


Along a Path Once Found

by shyasamouse



Series: We Travel to the End [1]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Agender Character, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Aromantic Character, Attempted Sexual Assault in ch 8, Book Timeline, Canonical Character Death, Demiromantic!Nori, F/F, Family Relationships - Freeform, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Period talk in ch 7, Pre-Quest, Pre-Relationship, Ri Family Feels, Slow Build, Violence, criminal activity, dwarves dont believe in the gender binary, that's a necessary tag when Nori's around
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-11
Updated: 2015-03-22
Packaged: 2018-02-24 22:19:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 55,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2598506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shyasamouse/pseuds/shyasamouse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every member of the Company had a reason why they decided to join the quest. What was Nori's?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I want to explain myself a bit here. This fic is an experiment for me, to see if I can handle the pressure and demand of writing a longer chaptered fic with actual plot. I tend to keep things short and simple, and I'm trying to break that habit by writing this. I have some things I really want to write later, but will only do if I can prove myself. 
> 
> That being said, I'm gonna try my hardest to make this as good as possible. I've already spent longer than expected on the first chapter alone, so I guess it's working. 
> 
> This is the prologue. It takes place shortly before the quest, at most two years before the Company is formed. Next chapter, I'll go back to Nori's childhood. I've already added some tags, but not all of it will be happening soon. I'll add more when we get further into the story. I just don't want to put it up as a tag when it's not actually in the fic yet.
> 
> EDIT: I changed the name. It was 'For Every Reason'

The air in the bar was warm, almost stifling. A fire crackled merrily in the hearth, a stark contrast to the distant attitude of the patrons. Small groups of workers clustered around tables covered in empty mugs. No one seemed to ever switch tables or even lean over to talk to someone in another area. There was hardly any chatter, only a low murmur that spread through the room, broken by the tavern maid coming over to each table in turn to ask if anyone wanted more.

 

'Yes' appeared to be the common answer, as every time she stopped by a table, the dwarrowdam would return to the bar and collect a whole new set of mugs. She walked back carefully, holding up to four in each hand and balancing them with a learned precision. Setting them down with a smile that dropped as soon as she turned around, the maid took several rounds around the room before moving back into the kitchen.

 

The small noise of the door opening and closing was ignored as a cloaked figure slipped into the room. Moving to a corner table, and sitting alone, the dwarf did not remove their hood until the tavern maid had already stopped by. Refusing a drink, the dwarf waved away the maid with a polite smile.

 

Then the hood was dropped, revealing a sly face with a plain four strand plait in both hair and beard holding back rusty red waves. The dwarrow leaned back in their seat and lit a pipe, eyes darting around the room. Apparently satisfied with what they saw, they relaxed into their chair and idly watched the smoke from their pipe curl up into the heavy air.

 

They'd been sitting for a good while before they heard the quiet scrape of chair legs, not preceded by footsteps, in front of them. Glancing over, the dwarrow looked into deep brown eyes and began to smile. The new-comer clasped their forearm in a gesture of greeting before dropping into the seat in front of them. His black hair was streaked with gray, much more than the last time they had seen each other.

 

“Getting old, Gyer?” The joke came in a low voice, the first dwarrow to arrive smirking at the reproachful look he sent their way.

 

“I've been getting old for many years now, and you know it, Nori.”

 

Nori didn't reply immediately, shifting so that the two of them were even more isolated in their corner of the room. She felt her hood finish its slow slide off of her shoulders and drape itself across her back as she moved closer to her old friend. “Gyer. Why are we here?”

 

He avoided her question, “You're not wearing your normal elaborate braids. Who have you pissed off this time?”

 

“None of your business. Answer me.”

 

He sighed and continued, “I'm worried. There has been a shift in the winds lately.”

 

She frowned and said, “Don't start pulling that superstitious crap on me now, old man. What's the problem, plain and clear?”

 

Giving her a look that told her exactly what he thought of her response, Gyer explained, “The underground has been stirring. Some people have been saying that there will be change and many are becoming nervous. The talk is bad, Nori. I fear for our safety.”

 

“If they're talking about change, it's not gonna be us they'll be after. They'll want Durek for that.”

 

Gyer raised a thick brow, “Do you really think they'll just ignore the rest of us?”

 

Nori looked away, conceding the point to him. “What did you want to do then?”

 

He gave her a level look and she grimaced as she realized what he wanted. “Gyer. I can't do that.”

 

“Think about it. I don't know what else we can do.”

 

She ran a hand down her face, adding “I'll try it, but I can't guarantee anything. If you're so worried, we'll just skip town 'til it blows over.”

 

“Is that what you really want to do? And if it doesn't 'blow over'?”

 

“You know the answer to that. And it will. Durek is too strong to be taken down by a couple of power hungry idiots.”

 

“Just let me know when you get an answer.”

 

“You're lucky I like you, old man.”

 

Gyer nodded to her, an unspoken goodbye before he stood up and turned away. As silently as he had come, he left, disappearing into the night easily. Nori frowned as she thought about what she'd have to do now to accomplish what he asked of her. She shook her head, it would never work out, Gyer was too optimistic in her abilities. Deciding not to stay, she pulled her hood back over her head, and left a sizable tip for the tavern maid.

 

As she left, Nori let a hand slip into the plush coat pockets of a patron, taking about the amount that she had just left on the table. A trade of sorts, and he was too drunk to take much notice of the missing coin. Her mind was still roiling, turning over every possible strategy as she went through the door and ducked into the streets.

 

Once outside, she refocused quickly, scurrying down side streets and through alleys that most didn't want to step foot in. She had already done what she needed, there was no reason to stick around and wait to get noticed. It was easy to get away and slip into the darkness, as most others were attracted towards the warmth of the bar, not away from it into the cold.

 

The streets were mostly empty; it was late enough that most had gone home, or were already asleep. Nori had meant to take the quickest path back to her family but her feet made a decision on their own. She turned down a path that had become very familiar in the last few weeks, towards the district where the miners lived.

 

She wandered down paths that saw much traffic in the light of day but were abandoned as soon as the shifts ended and the night set in. Here and there a lamp was still lit in a window, but not in the one her eyes were drawn too. Not that she had expected there to be.

 

Cursing herself for getting distracted and spending too much time outside, Nori spun around. Her footsteps got quicker and quicker as she left, until she was running, and she told herself that she wasn't fleeing. A few streets away, she slowed and stifled down the urge to glance back.

 

Home was waiting.

 

 


	2. Wanderings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, first real chapter! I'm not entirely pleased with it but it's longer than I'd hoped so there's that. I've edited this so many times. I'll try to get an update out by the end of next week. 
> 
> I've been trying to improve my explanation of things, but I'm afraid I didn't do so well in this. Here's some background for my hcs so that you can get what's going on, I'll go into more detail at the end. 
> 
> I hc for this that while most dwarves have a One, but some don't. Ones are kinda a choice and kinda not. You are predisposed to like certain types of people but you chose who to spend time with and trust. Dwarves still have crushes and usually have more than one courtship in their lifetime. Those who don't have Ones are normally dedicated to their craft and are usually aro ace. 
> 
> Also, I think that dwarves don't think of gender like men do. Dwarves' gender in my world is pretty loose, and they don't like to assume anything. They don't use genitals to assign gender. Instead they go off of what a person introduces themselves as, ie son, daughter or child and braids in their hair that tell them what pronouns to use. This won't come up much in this chapter but will have some importance later on.
> 
> EDIT: Ok so, I've decided to incorporate an idea I've seen floating around that dwarves separate gender from the ability to bear/sire. It fits well into what I've already written, so I'm going to add it in. It doesn't change anything, because dwarves think gender and reproductive abilities are pretty private thing that isn't something to be shared around. The only time I'll likely mention it is talking about periods or giving birth.

 

After the fall of Erebor, the fleeing dwarows had wandered from town to town, trying to find a place to settle. Many stopped along the way, attempting to build a home where they ended up. Zhori, Nori's mother, was one of those who had participated in the creation of a small village of dwarrows. It was an attempt to escape the wandering lifestyle that many of Erebor had fallen into.

 

Life there had not been easy, work difficult to find and goods and food hard to procure. But she was a determined dwarrowdam, and did her very best to create a life for herself. Zhori was a smith, would had been a silversmith had Erebor not fallen and left them with nothing. The once great Ri family could not afford the prestige it once had had, not that many in Ered Luin knew of the family's former prominence. Jobs were difficult to keep, as men only needed so much equipment before there was nothing left they had much reason to buy and not many others to sell goods to.

 

Zhori kept herself and her young child - Dori, who had been born before the dragon came - afloat through detailed work, a hair clip for a lord's young daughter, an addition to beautify a simple sword and others things of the same like. She was respected within the village for her strength, both physically and mentally, her skill at detailed craft, and for her beauty, which was renown.

 

Her eyes were large and the warmest shade of golden brown, mixing gloriously with her rusty hair. The braids in her hair were never anything sort of elaborate, and even when put up, was long enough to trail down her back. The streaks of silver that made their way into her hair from a rather early age only added to her loveliness, and even though she frequently rejected them and already had a child, suitors were plentiful and left her many gifts in attempts to curry favor with her.

 

\- - -

 

“Zhori...”

 

The dwarrowdam held in a sigh, as she turned around from the counter of her small shop to face her newest suitor. The young dwarrow there, hardly of age and with the barest makings of a beard, leaned forward to start to put something on the counter, an earnest expression on his face. “Did you get my gift?” he asked, poorly disguised hope on his face.

 

“Rhani, I understand you wish to court me,” she began, and cut him off as he started to say something. “Let me finish. You are sweet, and I admire your confidence. But you are much younger than me, you do realize that, yes?”

 

“Love conquers many borders, mizim!” He had froze midway through leaning across towards her, his eyes wide with innocent hope as he stared at her.

 

This time Zhori did sigh, but managed to stop from rubbing her face in exasperation. “Yes, it does. However, that does not mean everything always works out.”

 

“What are you saying?” His face fell as he watched her and the package in his hands lowered slowly below the surface of the counter.

 

“Please, Rhani, go and explore your options before you make a decision. Don't focus on me, your love and kindness would be wasted here.”

 

“But – ”

 

To keep him from continuing and digging himself farther into the hole he had created, she met his eyes and said gently, “I am not interested.”

 

Rhani nodded his head respectively and sadly. “I understand,” he said quietly. “I will go.”

 

Zhori sighed yet again as he left, and returned to her work with a heavy heart. She could no more stop suitors from cropping up than she could change her utter lack of want for romance. She empathized with those who wished to court her, but most of them wanted more from her than she could ever give and she would rather turn them down quickly then string them along.

 

Sometimes she let one of her suitors try to court her, feeling that maybe for once her dislike of romance would be overcome. But it never was, and she always ended up breaking the courtship off. This left her suitors angry and hurt, and they further the rumored about her cold-heartedness. And worse was when those suitors that came to her forge were not really suitors at all, but only mean dwarrow who lusted after her and thought themselves big and strong enough to have her. She was stronger then them, and made them leave, often gifting them scars to remember her by. She didn't tell her children of this, not until were older and could understand why some dwarrow were so cruel.

 

\- - -

 

Many others were jealous of the way that she still managed to shine, even covered in dust and dirt from hard labor. They made up stories, sure that she could not be doing so well without some other form of income, one much more disreputable. It was completely untrue, but gossip spreads and envy fosters hate.

 

For that alone, Zhori's reputation took a hit, but her refusal to follow the path that others believed she should take only made it worse. All dwarrows knew the famous stories, the ones that told of the great love between those who were destined to be together. Children, and adults alike, spent hours hoping and wondering if they would ever find a love like that. The idea of Ones was helped along by more common stories, of the courtship of parents or of the knowledge of a friend's coming marriage.

 

It was known that some dwarrows did not want romance, too caught up in their craft to care about anything outside of it. This was accepted and understood. But Zhori did not fit that type. She allowed courtship, under certain restrictions, but never took it farther than a few months. She did not want to settle down in marriage, or to find love, but she slept with others anyway and had children on her own.

 

The idea that someone would not want to find their One but would still have court and lay in other's beds turned some dwarrows against her. They found her behavior reprehensible and only added to the piles of gossip and rumor that surrounded her. Those few had ridiculed her for it even before Erebor fell to dragon's flame and it only grew worse when she was forced to live in small villages where everyone was in each other's business.

 

Zhori was a proud woman, who refused to feel shame for her dislike of marriage and for her children. But many others did. They looked at them contemptuously and talked under their breath, stunned that a she would chose a path like that. They leveled the little family with reproachful glances, not understanding their mother's views and refusing to ignore her choices in favor of taking care of their own problems.

 

\- - -

 

Zhori left the first village, not a flight she told herself, a retreat. She settled in a town far enough away that no one there knew of the rumors that had surrounded her before. She still got looks sometimes - people curious about she would not tell her story, but they were tamer, people not wanting to accidentally insult a recent widow right after the Battle of Azanulbizar.

 

She sometimes wondered why she ever allowed herself to become intrigued by someone's offer to court, allowed Nori's father to court her. Zhori had known as soon as she had seen him that he was not the type to stick around, to make it a real relationship, that he would be gone before it ever became respectable. Honestly, maybe that had been the reason she had slept with him. Because here was a man who would not care to make her his own, who only wanted some fun, as she did.

 

Whatever her reasons, it had happened, and Zhori had woken up one morning a few weeks after he had disappeared and had known immediately that something was wrong. Throwing up only added to that realization and Zhori resigned herself to more looks thrown her way after it became obvious she was bearing child with no father in sight.

 

\- - -

 

It was easy to ignore any looks, whether full of pity or disgust, when it was her only, her baby safe in her belly, unable to hear their words or feel the heat of their glares. When Dori was with her, and later when Nori was born, and she had to bring them with her, it was worse. Zhori could feel their ire and worried at her children noticing also. Children were deceptively sharp sometimes, and she had no wish for her darlings to grow up feeling the weight of ignorant and cruel hatred.

 

One night, it became too much. One dwarrow had nearly accosted her, only stopping when he saw her children, the deep seated protectiveness of youth keeping him from hurting her while they were there. If they had been alone, Zhori would not have hesitated to bring him down herself, with a good swift beating. But she would not expose Dori to that, not if she could help it. And there had been no one there that would have helped her. She had been on her own in a dangerous situation.

 

Moving became more common. Zhori had not the patience to deal with the comments for any length of time and couldn't crack open the heads of everyone who allowed themselves to get caught up in gossip. They moved from neighborhood to neighborhood, from town to town and finally to a city in Ered Luin. Discrimination could not be escaped, but at least in a city there was much less attention on her.

 

Even when there was, they weren't always being glared at. In the latest place, the closest to the central and largest Ered Luin cities that Zhori had gone, she had made a friend. A much younger dwarrowdam had seen the treatment that Zhori received when others released her situation and had decided to do something about it.

 

Zhori had been at the market, trying to buy clothes for Nori, who still very young at the time. She'd gotten used to ignoring the whispered comments and heated glances that were thrown her way by that time, and did so. But a light touch on her hand had startled her, and Zhori had been surprised to meet the eyes of a young girl, her blue eyes dark with anger.

 

She had expected some sort of rant aimed at her, but instead the hand on her wrist tighten as the other leaned in. “Are they bothering you?” she asked in a low voice, and Zhori nearly jolted to realize that she was not angry at her, but at the people who were watching them.

 

“No. They never anything but talk.”

 

“Talk can be harmful.” The words were clipped, and as she looked around them, she glared at those who dared to meet her eyes. “Come, are you done? I wish to speak with you.”

 

“About what?” Zhori questioned suspiciously as she finished paying and was led determinedly away.

 

“What I can do to stop them.”

 

Raising an eyebrow, the older dwarrowdam said, “Nothing. This has been going on for a long time.”

 

Sighing, the girl spun around, thick dark hair swinging around with her. “I am Dís, daughter of Thrain. If anyone feels they can insult you with consequence, I will prove them wrong.”

 

Zhori froze for a moment, taking in the dwarrowdam in front of her, lingering on the status braids she had not seen before. “Well, princess you may be, but an unmarried mother is surely far below you and your area of persuasion.”

 

“I am no princess, no more than you are deserving such comments. And I will do something.” The conviction in Dís' voice surprised Zhori, who looked at the other with growing respect.

 

Bowing her head, Zhori smiled gently at Dís. “Lead on, my lady.”

 

Dís shook her head, “You don't have to call me that.”

 

“If you say so, my lady.”

 

Dís huffed at her, then gave up. “Tell me why and how they are cruel to you. I'm sure I can punish them for some of it.”

 

“I have to return to my children,” Zhori pressed, “And it is not a quick tale.”

 

“Then I shall walk you home.”

 

By the end of the next few weeks, Zhori found herself being dragged to the young dwarrowdam's small home, where she stayed with her older brother. Zhori was glad that her brother was not often home, too busy with duties, because she was not sure what she would have done when faced with their young King. It hurt her heart to even think about how the poor boy had been forced into the role, when he had not even reached majority. Oh, he was of age now, but she still wished it had not happened.

 

She had not been a part of the war with the orcs. Dori had been much too young to leave alone, and she had had no one to watch over them for her. Like many, she had been left behind, only feel useless as the warriors began to come home. Reduced to a fraction of the people that had left to fight, so many of them too young and many injured in such terrible ways, Zhori had done all she could to help, which was not much.

 

Seeing Dís now, it was hard to see the tragedy that had befallen her and her family at that battle. She was sharp, cold when it suited her and gentle when she felt like it. A study in contrasts, a great fighter – brilliant with a sword, but also known to make a weapon out of appearance – crafting her outfits with care and perfecting her braids. It was obvious that as soon as she had come of age, the princess would be a force to be reckoned with, someone with great influence both in and out of the court.

 

Zhori swiftly found herself being consulted on how best to accessorize with jewelry to create the right effect, or how to improve her form to apply the most force when fighting without a weapon. She didn't see Dís very often, but every so often the princess would wander into their little home with a question or two. They would go on walks together, Dís asking her advice on various topics.

 

Before Dís' help, the rumors and whispers had followed them around their homes where ever they went. Nori remembered walking along the street of the town she was born in, comparing the experience when it was just her and her brother to when it was all three of them. With her mother, Nori could almost hear the gossip that passed from mouth to mouth as they walked past. The pointed comments slipped past her head like mist, there but impossible to catch. Oh, and how Nori wanted to catch them, to stop the whispering.

 

Yet, when it was just Dori and Nori, everyone seemed to forget their dislike of their mother. Many smiles were directed their way as they wandered through the markets. Once, a local baker had stopped them on their return home and presented them with treats. Just two small little cakes, hardly anything. But with hardly a glance between them, Dori and Nori carefully handed the pastries back and continued on their way. Anyone who would criticize their mother one day and suck up to them the next was not someone they wanted to take gifts from.

 

The only time things began to die down was after Dís began to spend time with their mother. Word spread quickly after people started to see the two of them on the streets together. Now that Dís had essentially claimed Zhori, people were not willing to risk the ire of princess. Gossip slowed and eventually stagnated, leaving Zhori with only hints of the discrimination that had once ruled her life.

 

Zhori and Dís had a strange friendship, and it was something that often made Dori nervous. He was unsure how to address Dís, frequently following his mother's example and reverting to more formal titles. Dís tried to break the habit, but he refused to give it up. On the other hand, Nori tended to ignore the relationship, too focused on other things to care much.

 

Like most of the population of Ered Luin, they lived in poverty. Even Dís and her brother were not free from the lack of money. Clothes were plain and easy to fix, nothing fancy. Food was simple, what ever Zhori was able to buy. In some ways, Nori was glad for the lack.

 

She was never told to wear dresses, or look feminine, partly because they couldn't afford it, partly because wearing ill-fitting but warm clothes kept others from realizing she was a dwarrowdam. Not that Nori was ashamed of the gender she preferred, her mother would never have let that happen, but because it made her life easier. No one expected as much from her as they would have if they had known her gender.

 

She was also saved from the protectiveness of everyone outside of her family. After the loss of so many people, those who remained often wished to keep the few dwarrowdams safe, in a twisted sense of care that would have forced them inside and unable to travel, work or fight. This was especially true for any dwarrows who could bear children, dwarrowdams or not. Although this was not information normally shared, mothers and female preferring dwarrows often found themselves pressured to stay in the cities, away from the strange customs of Men and safer from orc attacks.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you didn't catch my reasoning, the discrimination against Zhori is based on a couple things. First, she doesn't have a One but courts anyway, which some people find disrespectful of marriage. Secondly, not really mentioned in the chapter, Zhori doesn't believe that she needs to be protected and acts accordingly. Normally this would be fine, but after a tragedy where they lost so many people and after wandering around towns of men (and picking up some sexism from them), some dwarves think she should allow herself to be protected ie isolated and unable to do many things. Lastly, a lot of people are just jealous of her good looks/talents and allow that to taint their opinion of her.


	3. Developments and Additions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Another chapter. This one is the last one before Nori takes over the point of view. Two things, one: because dwarves are loose about gender, young dwarves use singular they for pronouns until they decide if they want to choose a gender. Nori chose really early on that she was a girl, so she gets female pronouns. 
> 
> Two: Timeline. Dori was born about 6 years before Smaug. The fall of Erebor was in 2770, and I moved the war with the Orcs up a few years, so it is thirtyish years after Smaug instead of twenty. Nori was born a couple years after Azanulbizar, her father was one of the returning soldiers. Ori is born in 2846, about 40 years after Nori. That makes Ori 95, Nori 133, and Dori 177 by the time of the quest. I have decided dwarves come of age at 65 so Dori is of age when Ori is born. 
> 
> For the Durins, although I kept the approximate book timeline, I used more of the movie events plus my own fave hcs. So Thror, Thrain, and Frerin all died/go missing at Azanulbizar. Thorin becomes king five years before he comes of age and has to figure out how to lead his people. Dis helps out but she is even younger and doesn't come of age for another twenty years. 
> 
> I hope this was helpful. I tried to give hints to where we were in the timeline, but I thought it might be uncertain in places.

Despite their mother's own growing friendship with the lady Dís, Nori and Dori did not have any playmates. First of all, there were hardly any other children, even in the larger city. Dori and Nori were nearly alone for their childhood, excepting each other of course. The few other kids that there was were often unlikely to try and make friends, the bigoted views of their parents affecting their own behavior. It was difficult to be without friends but Nori and Dori were close, despite their nearly constant bickering.

 

In fact, their whole family was close. Zhori refused to allow the poison that was the hateful comments slip in and ruin their relationships. She loved her children, and although she could be strict, it usually stemmed from worry and protectiveness. She could also be distant, swept up in her work, but never cruel or neglectful. 

 

It was from her that Dori learned to be fussy, to watch his appearance and manners. She pushed it on them, trying to keep them for receiving the same treatment that she did. Zhori figured that if she made them look good, then people would not assume negative things about them. Dori was always willing to go along with what she told him, but Nori disliked the attempts to improve her appearance and always managed to squirm out of wearing nicer clothes, preferring simpler outfits.

 

After they settled in the city, Dori was able to secure himself a tailor apprenticeship. He was a hard worker, unlikely to complain much and determined to be as perfect as possible, any master's dream. Dori pursued his craft with a passion only matched by that for his family. Actually, his love for his work never managed to compare to his love for his family. His family was above all, no matter how Nori and he argued or busy his mother was. Honestly, out of her children, Zhori had thought it least likely that Dori would ever worry about marriage, not when he had his work and his family to care for instead.

 

Nori had never been so obvious in her affections towards her family. Yes, her mother and brother knew that she did care for them, but she tended to prefer actions over words. That changed, in the slightest but most noticeable of ways after the birth of Ori.

 

Nori's father had shown up again, utterly surprising Zhori. He hadn't known Nori was his child, and Zhori hadn't thought it important to tell him. Her children didn't know who he was, or even that he spent as much time wiht her as he did. But like before, he hadn't cared that she had children and wanted nothing from her in terms of an actual relationship and she wasn't afraid to admit she liked the freedom he represented. A little time for fun, when she was as old as she was getting, was nice.

 

When he left one day without a word, she wasn't surprised. What was a shock was finding out from the healer that she'd gotten with child, again. Zhori was in her one hundred and eighty second year, not exactly a young sprightly thing ready to handle the stress of bearing and giving birth. She had expected to miscarry, not to complete the pregnancy but to even the healer's surprise it lasted past the first months, past the point where miscarriages were likely.

 

Although Zhori did not spread the word around herself, Dís was quick to find out and came over to offer her congratulations and a helping hand.

 

“Zhori!” Her older dwarrowdam smiled at Dís as she gave her a light hug and slipped through the doorway.

 

“Hello my lady. I suppose you found out from the gossip?”

  
  
“Well, quite a lot of people were talking about it. Sorry for not being over sooner. I haven't visited in a while.”

 

Zhori tutted lightly, “You have many duties to attend to. I do not expect to see you all that often.”

 

“You should! You have been a good friend to me, Zhori,” Dís said, shaking her head at her. “Truthfully though, I am busy. My idiot brother cannot be replied upon to get everything done, you know.”

 

“Should you say such things about your king?” Zhori laughed, knowing the answer already.

 

“He is my brother, I can say what I like,” Dís replied, tossing her thick braids in mock indignation.

 

At this, Dori stumbled into the room, gasping out, “My lady, I did not hear you arrive.”

 

Dís turned and smiled at him, “Don't worry, Dori. How is your apprenticeship going?”

 

“Well, thank you,” Dori nudged his sister, who had come to stand just behind him and who mumbled out a quiet greeting at the nudge.

 

“Pleasure to see you too, Nori,” Dís laughed, not bothered by the girl's distant behavior. “Anyway, Zhori, you must let me know if there is anything I can do for you.”

 

“Nothing at the moment, my lady.”

 

\- - -

 

The rest of the pregnancy went easily, even though it should have been unlikely for her to do so well at her age. Dori spent the entire time hovering over his mother's shoulders, determined to be there just in case anything went wrong. Nori pretended not to be worried, but could be frequently found nearby, watching her mother as though something would go wrong if she wasn't.

 

Zhori did not fail to notice to both her children's protectiveness. She decided to try to distract them, getting Nori apprenticed, in the hopes that a craft would keep her busy and content. It did not go well. Nori had been a fidgety child, prone to ignoring the commands of her betters. For all that she had a natural talent for detailed work, especially for the jewelry and gem work that had been the pride of the Ri family before the fall of Erebor, the master couldn't work well with Nori.

 

Nori hated the apprenticeship, wanted to get out of it but her hatred was put on hold, pushed back into the depths of their worries when Ori was born. They were born too early, too weak to do much for the first few weeks. For a long time after the birth, Nori was subdued, and kept from making trouble with her teacher. Childbirth and taking care of an infant were putting a lot of strain on their mother and she didn't want to add to her problems.

 

Zhori acted as though everything was fine, but the dark circles under her eyes and the longer and longer it took her to finish her commissions had everyone who knew her worried. Ori was not really a fussy baby, but their mother wasn't young and couldn't handle getting up at odd hours as well anymore. Dís tried to offer help, Dori did his best to keep his mother from having too much to do, but Zhori was too proud to have anyone else watch over Ori.

 

It wasn't really a surprise when Zhori caught a simple sickness, some passing cold from a local town of Men. Most dwarves hardly ever got sick, but if they did it was in times of stress when they were not their normal selves. She got over it quickly enough, but the shock of getting ill at all was enough to get her to allow her family and friends to help out.

 

Dís was only too happy to come over and watch over Ori when both Dori and Zhori were too busy with work to stay. She cooed over the little one, frequently bringing gifts to entertain them with. Nori, who had much less to do, sulked quietly in the corners of the room, keeping a steady eye on Ori.

 

To perhaps everyone's surprise except Zhori, Nori had immediately taken a liking to her little sibling. When presented with them after the birth, she had held on ever so carefully as the dwarfling squirmed in her arms.

 

\- - -

 

“Nori. Come here.”

 

The little dwarrowdam scowled, she had nearly been out the door. She turned on her heel, holding back irritated sigh. She didn't want to be here, to listen as her mother screamed in pain and watch as her brother paced across the room. Tugging her legs up onto the seat, she studiously ignored her brother, who had called her back and tried to tone out the sounds coming from the next room.

 

It felt like hours later, and maybe it was, when a touch to her head convinced her to uncurl. Nori blinked up at her brother, feeling bleary and off.

 

“We can go see Amad now. The healer says she and our sibling is fine.”

 

“Our sibling?”

  
  
Dori nodded, a small smile slipping onto this face. “Ori, of Zhori.”

 

Nori unfolded herself from the chair and followed her brother on wobbly legs. Their mother was sitting up in bed, looking pale and drawn but otherwise fine. Held in her arms was a small bundle, which she shifted gently so that they could see their new family member as they walked up to the bed.

 

“Aren't they a darling?” Zhori said roughly, a pleased note in her voice. “Why don't you take turns holding them?”

 

Dori immediately took the baby, clutching them carefully to his chest and speaking to them softly. Nori was happy to stay back, sure she would drop the baby and get in trouble. But before she could get out of reach, Dori spun around and slid Ori into her arms.

 

She tightened her grip automatically, determined not to have her little sibling land on their head while she had a hold an them. They were warm, like a mini furnace against her chest, and bright red. Nori wanted to wrinkle her face in a direct mimic of their tiny squished cheeks, but then they opened their eyes. Bright blue, a color she knew would fade into a light brown like hers. She focused on them as they stared up at her, and for the first time, she understood why Dori was so annoying sometimes.

 

Nori wanted to keep Ori safe and sound, not that she'd ever act like Dori, no way. She thought she could protect them in her own ways though, ones that wouldn't be nearly as irritating. Remembering that she wasn't alone in the room, Nori glanced up to see her family watching her fondly. Giving in to the urge to pull a face, she pushed Ori back onto Dori, stepping back into the corner of the room and away from her mother's laughing eyes.

 

\- - -

 

For a while, everything stayed peaceful, at least within the walls of the family home. But Nori's apprenticeship was not going well. She was not a dwarfling who compiled easily to orders, especially those she didn't like or understand, and a good master would have taken the time to get to know her and show her why she should listen to him.

 

Puni was not a good master however, short tempered, irritable and overall cruel. He didn't care for Nori and made this obvious. Nori had done her best to ignore it for a year, not wanting to worry her mother while she was with child or while Ori was still very little.

 

It had gotten harder to put out of mind though, as Nori was increasingly distracted in the workshop. She was hoping to return home to her family but the master couldn't stand her lack of focus. He tossed the young dwarf out, complaining of her inattention and disrespect. Her mother was upset, not exactly disappointed but also unsure of the whole story. Nori went home, and grew madder and madder every time she thought about the behavior of her master.

 

\- - -

“Boy! What are you doing?”

 

Nori jumped in her seat, looking down at the unfinished work in front of her. She was supposed to finish hooking the links of the unadorned necklace together but the job was unappealing. Her master stalked over and glared at her, looking between her work and Nori. “You were to have this completed an hour ago!”

 

Nori shrugged, “I didn't want to do it.”

 

“Didn't want to do it! You shall never learn anything if you don't work.”

 

“I'm not sure I want to learn if you're teaching.”

 

“The insolence of you, boy! I never should have allowed your whore mother to talk me into this.” He turned away, muttering under his breath and Nori had to fight the urge to take the nearby pliers and plunge them into his eye.

 

The master spun around, his tatty beard smacking against his chest. “I don't want you here. Leave, and tell your mother that she can keep her filthy coin.”

 

Nori glared at his retreating back, tempted to grab the necklace she was working on and take it with her as her parting retribution. Then she thought about the old master noticing it missing and following her home, and Nori shuddered. She had no want to see that dwarf in her house, where despite his rude words he would leer at her mother.

 

That thought hadn't completely removed the idea of theft from her mind, however. The old master was terrible at remembering to close windows properly, Nori knew as there had been many times where she had had to latch them himself. She knew where he kept the most expensive of his materials and that he did not often use them, and so would not notice them missing for a good while.

 

For his rudeness, Nori had committed her first real crime. The master had been a greedy dwarf, one who charged too much for her lessons, which were not even taught by the best jewelry designer in the settlement. He was unbearably disrespectful of her mother, and a horrid teacher, unable to see past his own arrogance. From the moment she had met him, she had not trusted him, and that was why he thought her a boy. Nori had not bothered to tell him any different.

 

Sneaking in had been ridiculously easy, a mere matter of finding an open window and sliding in. The most expensive materials were easy to find, and Nori did her best not to leave any evidence of her break in. Picking the lock was not as easy as she had expected, but the master slept deeply and the sounds were low. Once the deed was done, she abandoned the area, the small amount of precious metals tucked carefully in her pockets.

 

Nori had stashed the goods under a loose floorboard in her room, knowing that her mother and Dori would not bother to look for anything there. She knew it would suspicious for a young dwarf to wander around asking where to trade precious metals for coin, so she left her spoils alone. When she was older, and the crime had been forgotten by her former master and everyone he may tell, then she would make her profit.

 

Her family hadn't ever suspected anything, and that first crime had only been one of many. Most had not occurred until many years after the first, but Nori would tell anyone who knew her craft that asked that she started early. For all that she knew her brother would be horrified at her choice, Nori wondered about learning better techniques for stealing from the first time she had done it onwards.

 

Since she had been kicked out of her apprenticeship, Nori had finally found something to do with her quick fingers. Her master had dropped her before she ever gotten to learn how to craft anything of worth. The impulse to craft that should have led to the creation of masterpieces led only to twitchy fingers and a distracted mind. Then she found that fingers that itched to craft delicate jewelry were also good at slipping quietly into coat pockets and opening clasps on jewelry without a sound.

 

Nori was never sure how her mother would have felt about her thieving. She knew Mother was not nearly as straight and narrow as Dori would like to think, and she also did not believe that she had ever done anything on such a scale that would turn her mother against her but it was hard to tell. Wondering got her nothing of worth, however, and Nori frequently put it out of mind.

 


	4. Coping with changes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: mentioned character death and grief 
> 
> As always, let me know if I mess anything up whether it be grammar-wise or character/plot-wise. 
> 
> Large timeskip here, about twenty years. Nori is about 50, and Dori is about 100.
> 
> Hopefully I'll have the next chapter out on time. I've been hit with ideas for my modern au but I have more time this weekend then I have in a while to write things for both fics.

Nori's head jerked up at the knocking at her door, but she didn't get up from the bed. There were only two people it could be after all and she didn't want to talk with one of them. It was only when Ori's quiet voice slipped through the cracks in the door that she moved at all.

 

“Nori? Can I come in?” they sounded shy, and scared and she couldn't blame them. She uncurled slowly, letting the blankets slid off of her and land about the bed, not bothering to pick them up.

 

She pulled open the door and ushered Ori in quickly before climbing back into the sheets. They followed her, and she tucked them both under the thickest blanket, with only their faces exposed to the air. Ori pressed into her side, their head with its two little braids still carefully done ducking under her arm. They played with the edge of her shirt, not looking up and for a while the two sat in silence.

 

“Nori?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Dori's acting funny.”

 

Nori froze and wondered what to say. She didn't know how to explain the situation in a way that Ori would understand. They were only twenty for Mahal's sake! They had no idea what had happened, not really. To them, Mother wasn't gone, only missing. The notion that they would never see her again was not something that they understood.

 

“Ori... Dori is,” she stopped, irritated with her brother. Why hadn't he explained this to Ori? It wasn't her job, she was still a kid too! She rubbed her face, wiping off the angry tears that had started to form. “What is Dori doing?”

 

“He won't stop cleaning,” Ori reported dutifully. “And he fixed my braids. A couple of times.”

 

Nori pressed her hands harder into her eyes. “Dori is worrying. And when he worries, he cleans.”

 

“Is he worried because Mother had to go?”

 

“He has to take care of us now, yes.”

 

“Where did Mother go?”

 

Nori dropped her hands finally, and leaned her head on Ori's, wrapping her arms around them. “Somewhere we can't see her anymore.”

 

“Where? Why not?” Ori sounded exasperated, the tone of a confused child.

 

“It is said that dwarrow who die reside in Mahal's halls until we can join him in rebuilding Arda.”

 

“Is it beautiful there?” Their hands tightened in her shirt and Nori wondered if they could feel her shaking.

 

“I hope so.” Nori blinked back tears, and knew she had failed to keep them all in as she saw one land on the blankets over Ori's shoulders.

 

“Mother isn't coming back?” She could hear the final note of hope in their voice and she hated, _hated_ , to be the one to snuff it out.

 

“No. She has to move on without us. When it is our time, we will find her again.”

 

She felt, more than heard, Ori begin to cry and she knew they had finally understood, at least enough to feel the pain of realization. Nori tightened her hold on them, and if her tears joined theirs in staining the blankets, no one was there to know.

 

\- - -

 

 

In the next few weeks, Nori learned how to slip out of her window quickly and easily. She loved her brother, but he was more overbearing than ever before and she didn't feel like dealing with his emotional breakdowns.

 

Sneaking out her own window allowed her freedom, and she wandered the streets. Surprisingly, people tended not to notice a young dwarrow out alone, maybe they assumed a guardian was somewhere nearby. Nori didn't particularly bother worrying about why they didn't call her out, too busy enjoying the time to herself.

 

She avoided the places that seemed the most suspicious, the pitch black back alleys and the streets where the bars were that rowdy and beaten looking dwarrows stood in front of, smoking and glaring at passersby. The rooftops in the places of the city outside of the mountains were interesting to explore, and she found plenty of narrow crannies perfect for a skinny young dwarrow.

 

Nori never stayed out too late, not wanting to freak her brother out. He would notice if she wasn't home by dinner and she discovered that the bell that announcing the shift change down in the mines made for a good reminder of when to head home.

 

The rooftops were pushed together, crowded as close to the side of the mountains as they could get. They slouched down, made of thick stone that sometimes crumbled into pebbles under her feet and sent her sliding. Treacherous footing kept most off of the roofs, especially any heavier dwarrows, and Nori was often completely alone up there. She reveled in the experience, avoiding the few who did come up, and watching people move about below her, curling into the side of chimneys to escape the wind.

 

If Dori ever realized she wasn't at home most days, he never said anything. Ori did, asking her quietly after dinner where she'd gone and Nori would distract them with stories, both from real history and her own imagination. A good tale was as good as food at get Ori to settle down. They would focus on her voice, tucking themself into her and listening with all of their little body. Sometimes Dori would join in, and throw in a story that he remembered from his lessons, but mostly he bussed about the room, straightening things or sitting in the other chair and knitting.

 

When it got cold out, and Dori had lit a fire to warm up the inside of their small home, curling up with her siblings ended with tired eyes and wide yawns. Nori thought she feel asleep once or twice, at least she never recalled ever getting up to go to bed, even though she woke up in her own room.

 

On one such morning, Nori stumbled out of bed, rubbing her eyes to try and be more awake. She wasn't surprised to find Dori already up, the kitchen scrubbed clean and breakfast sitting on the table. As soon as she sat, Dori scurried over, fussing at her hair and bed clothes, muttering something under his breath about her lack of care for herself. She grumbled right back, but allowed the fussing, stealing a piece of bread.

 

He gave her a huffy look and pushed the bread to the other side of the table. “Wait 'til Ori is up,” he scolded, turning away to glance around the kitchen.

 

Nori followed his gaze, wondering why he was so unfocused. Normally the nagging lasted much longer than that. She found he was staring at the pantry, as though scanning and cataloging the items even with the door closed.

 

“Are you working all day today?” she asked, picking apart the slice of bread she had taken.

 

He startled a bit then nodded. “Yes, yes. I need to. I only took the time off to watch over you and Ori, but I think it's necessary to get back to work.”

 

“Do you need me to take care of them today?”

 

There was a pause “... No, I'll take them to work. The other tailors will like them and they can stay in the back so the customers aren't bothered.”

 

Nori didn't reply, knowing that Dori wouldn't expect anything in return.

 

As soon as Dori was gone that morning, Nori was going to leave. But as she looked around, she wondered why Dori had seemed so unfocused. She opened the pantry and realized that what they had had for breakfast that morning was almost all the food they had in house. There was nothing left to eat.

 

Fueled by her discovery, Nori dug into the box in which their mother had kept their savings. Just like the pantry, there was not much left. It had been a month since their mother had passed and Dori had spent every day at home, taking care of them. He hadn't worked for the entirety of that time, too focused on making sure his siblings would be okay. The lack of work had caught up to them.

 

Nori itched to do something. She knew how much effort her brother put into watching over them, even if she wished he would calm on the fussing sometimes. His tailoring job was still new, and she knew he would be in trouble at work for skipping for so long. Without the income from their mother, who knew how well Dori would be able to keep them fed and housed.

 

As she slipped out of the house and darted and weaved through the crowded streets, Nori wondered what she could even do to help her brother. Her apprenticeship had ended before the second year, marking her as now too old to be considered for another. Moreover, her old master had spread rumors that she was a terrible student, and many would believe his opinion over that of hers or her brothers.

 

There was nothing she could feasibly do. Well, nothing legal. Her fingers still longed to craft, but lacking the knowledge to do so, they would turn easily to stealing. Nori was small, naturally skinnier than most dwarrows, and quick. Her hands were loose and her fingers nimble. Surely she could slip coin from pockets without drawing attention?

It was simple enough to find a good target. Glancing around a major plaza, there were obvious distinctions between the different social classes amongst the dwarrows. While the majority were dressed plainly, and with little decoration in their braids, she saw a few with plush, brightly colored clothes and shiny abundant beads. It was though they wanted to be stolen from.

 

Coming around behind one of them was easy enough, as no one took much notice of a dwarfling wandering about. Slipping a hand into his pocket was harder, although she managed it and avoided his notice by bumping her shoulder into him so he dismissed the pressure of her hand as part of the jostle. Nori ended up with a small bag of coin tucked into the palm of her hand.

 

Her heart beat faster and rose into her throat as she felt the weight of it in her hand. Every second that she moved further away, she expected to be called back, for him to yell out “Thief!”. But nothing happened and her heart sank back into her chest with a sigh.

 

Once she was a few streets away, Nori ducked into a enclave on the side of the road and took stock of her spoils. The bags opened and the coins rolled onto her hand with a clink. She counted them quickly, noting that it could cover a months worth of food alone. Ducking her head, and hiding her stolen goods in her deepest pockets, Nori smirked to herself. She could do this.

 

It was almost too easy to sneak in a coin or two while Dori wasn't paying attention. Not too much that he would notice the sudden increase but enough to ensure that he kept his hopes up when the money didn't disappear as rapidly as it should have.

 

Nori practiced her new found skill with vigor. Slipping out of her room every day now had a goal attached to it beyond freedom and she reveled in it. It was exciting, to know what she could accomplish without any training but what she taught herself. Somehow, she wasn't caught in those first few months, something that only added to her confidence.

 

Dori began to look at her closely a few months after she started. Nori did her best to keep her thievery under wraps but it wasn't long before Dori realized something was up. She was good at sneaking out, but eventually he noticed that she wasn't there all day. It was hard to find a good excuse for why she was gone and she knew he would make the connection at some point.

 

Evading Dori's inspection made her begin to worry more about what would happen when she got found out. Nori was scared of what her brother might say to her. She was scared of how Ori's opinion of her might change. But she also didn't want to stop. For the first time since their mothers death, she had seen Dori smile, really smile, when he had been able to buy Ori a new toy without having to sacrifice something to pay for it.

 

Nori couldn't help but take more and more from others when she had seen that. She knew it was risky to be so careless and yet she could not see herself giving it up. Spending time out on the streets became a daily practice, they were always busy, and when they started to clear up, she knew it was time to go home.

 

When it was the middle of the day and the markets were crowded and full to the brim, Nori loved to weave in and out of the crowd, sliding her hands into pockets and nicking small items from overpriced stalls. One day, she slipped through the mass to skid into a side alleyway, automatically starting to inspect her goods.

 

“Oi, you. What do you think you're doing?”

 

The shout startled her and she nearly dropped the coin purse she was holding. She stuck the purse into her pocket and withdrew her hand slowly, watching the dwarf who had addressed her like a hawk. “None of your business.”

 

The dwarf, who had deep bronze skin and a simple plait in his hair, raised an eyebrow. “Oh, yes? Well, if you're going to steal, at least make sure no one catches you.”

 

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Nori countered, glaring suspiciously at the older dwarf. She felt eyes trailing down her form, and Nori stiffened, her back straightening unconsciously – so very reminiscent of her brother – not that she would ever acknowledge that.

 

“Aye, I'm sure you don't,” he stated. Once he completed his look over of her, he meet her eyes easily. “You are no street rat.”

 

Nori tilted her head at him in mock innocence. “What makes you say that?”

 

“Lack of general uncleanliness,” he said without a pause.

 

She looked down at herself and noted the knitted sweater from Dori peaking out from the edge of her shirt, and the impeccable state of her hands. Dori didn't allow dirty hands at mealtimes. Nori glanced back up at him and shrugged.

 

He raised an eyebrow at her nonchalance. “Come here. If you continue on like this, you're going to get caught and I bet whoever is keeping you clean isn't going to be happy about that.”

 

“Why should I trust you? I don't know you,” Nori asked sharply.

 

“You shouldn't,” he replied, tossing it over his shoulder as he began to walk away. “But there's not many who'd be willing to help you learn better, little one.”

 

“I'm not little!” Nori called after. She took a second to think then sprinted after him, cursing herself under her breath. “Why are you offering help then?” she prodded, walking quickly to keep up with him.

 

“I don't like to see dwarflings in trouble. I know this craft well enough to give you an advantage.”

 

“Craft?” Nori wrinkled her brow, only ever having heard theft as a crime and a problem.

 

“Thievery is still a craft, is it not? You must hone skills and practice much to improve, just as one must while learning to forge a sword. It may not be respectable, but how well does respectability feed a family when there are so few jobs to be had?” he said it thoughtfully, and Nori wondered if there was more to his explanation that he would not say to her now.

 

He looked down at her then, finally slowing his pace so that she could walk next to him without running to keep up. “Gyer, son of Gyon,” he introduced himself, and she almost missed it as it was so casual.

 

Nori opened her mouth to reply, only to have him hold a hand up. “First rule, little one,” he said. “Don't give out your real name.”

 

She narrowed her eyes at him, “Was that your actual use-name then?”

 

“I see no reason to lie to a dwarfling.”

 

Nori chafed at being called 'little one' and 'dwarfling' but ignored it, for now. “ If I should not tell people my name, what will you call me then?”

 

“What do you wish I would call you?”

 

“Not 'child',” She murmured and when he only watched her, sighed and added, “Nali.” That was a name she could remember, and hopefully a good enough false one.

 

Gyer nodded in response and bid her follow him again. Nori followed him, making sure to memorize the path they were taking. She didn't feel unsafe with Gyer, but better safe than sorry as Dori would have said. Speaking of which, they had better not go far, she couldn't be late getting home.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not entirely sure how Zhori died. I'm thinking that she had been having health problems after Ori's birth and got really sick. Sorry for skipping over that part but for whatever reason it felt right to start the chapter there. 
> 
> I'm also not sure where Dis is in this chapter. She was at the funeral but I think she wanted to give them some space afterwards. Don't worry, she'll be back next chapter. (With Fili and Kili- who are little babies!)


	5. Sorrow departed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter kicked my ass. This chapter is also long, so I hope you enjoy.
> 
> Another timeskip, just a couple years though. And Dis is back! (for now) 
> 
> I set this at having 13 chapters because I'm hoping that is what it'll grow to be. We're getting into very unplanned territory now though so Idk what'll happen. But I like having an end goal.

Nori sprinted through the streets, panting in panic. Her heart thudded hard against her rib cage as she ducked behind a taller building to slip into a back alleyway. She came to a skidding halt around the corner and tucked herself into the darkest corner she could find. Footsteps, moving quickly, started to go past the alley where she was hiding but then stopped, turning slowly.

 

She was afraid to look. Pressing herself as far back as she could go, Nori quieted her breath and waited, each rapid inhale seeming like the loudest noise in the world. Then a hand grabbed her and dragged her out into the light. She shrunk and tried to pull away but the forward motion was inevitable.

 

Gyer let go of her, dropping his hand and frowning in her direction. “Better,” he said gruffly, “but you need to learn to find hiding places that are less obvious. What did I tell you yesterday?”

 

Nori sighed irritably, rubbing at her arm where he had grabbed her. “I'm light. Go up. The guards won't think to look on the roof.”

 

He grunted in acknowledgment of her response and nodded toward the darkness of the small road they were on. “Come, let's check your lock picking skills.”

 

She muttered under her breath as she followed him, pulling faces at his back. He called out without turning to look, “Would you rather I left you without practice to get caught by the guards?”

 

“No,” she grumbled. “I don't see why you make me do it over and over again. I do just fine the first time.”

 

“Fine is not good enough. Maybe if you spent more time with me, I could help you understand. If you don't want to do this, you should just give up now and go home,” Gyer stated sharply.

 

Nori glared at him. “I'm not some child you can order around,” she snapped. “I'll be of age next year.”

 

“And yet, at some things, you are only slightly better than you were when I first met you.”

 

When her ire only increased, he sighed and turned to face her, stopping. “I'm trying to help you. You wish to be a thief. Thievery is a craft that must be perfected if you wish to do it without getting arrested or even killed.”

 

“I know,” Nori said, glancing down at the ground.

 

“You'll thank me when my training keeps you out of trouble,” Gyer knowingly replied.

 

She huffed and followed him, making sure to keep an eye on their surroundings. That had been lesson number two: don't get caught with your pants down. Six years of learning and practicing under Gyer and she knew much more than she ever had thought she would. He had forced to her to move past the skills she was naturally good at, making her learn and develop new abilities from practically nothing.

 

By the time she got home that night, it was completely dark out. Dori still had a light on and she cursed that she would have to talk to him if he noticed her come in. Nori slipped in quietly, hoping she could sneak past but as soon as the door opened, Dori was there. He pulled her to the kitchen area, pressing a warm bowl of stew into her hands and demanding to know where she had been.

 

Nori ducked around his questions, gulping down the stew and shoving the bowl back at him. “Nori!” he called out as she sprinted back to her room. He shook his head in frustration, already moving to clean the bowl.

 

\- - -

 

By the time Dori woke up the next morning, she was already gone. He pressed an arm to the doorway of her room and leaned his head on it for a long second. He had no idea where she had gone, or why she was leaving in the first place. One day, he was worried she would leave, and he would not see her again for a long time.

 

After a long heartfelt sigh, Dori slipped into Ori's bedroom, shaking the dwarfling awake gently. They grumbled, but allowed Dori to get them up and into the kitchen. Ori slumped in their seat, rubbing their eyes sleepily. “Where's Nori?” they asked while yawning, looking around confusedly.

 

“I don't know,” he said quietly, leaning on the counter and glancing out their one dirty window. There was no one out on the street in front of their house, and his heart sank yet again.

 

“Will she be back for dinner?”

 

“Perhaps,” Dori replied. “We'll have to see.”

 

Ori looked like they still wanted to say something but closed their mouth at the tone of Dori's voice. Pushing around the mush in their bowl, they glanced around, as though Nori would suddenly show up. When nothing happened, their face dropped, just enough to be noticeable, and Dori ran a hand through their hair and pressed a kiss to their cheek.

 

Dori got off from work early that day, as the shop had run out of a certain type of cloth that would have to be replaced before they could continue their work. He took Ori through the marketplace, buying the groceries that he knew they would need for the next week, carefully spending as little as possible.

 

A few times, as he walked, his hand went to the coins in his pockets. Many of them, he knew were from his work at the talior's shop, money he added to the collection himself. But some had seemed to just appear overnight and had to have come from Nori, as no one else could have done it.

 

Something was up, Nori was doing something that she shouldn't be. Dori felt the weight in his pocket and despaired for his little sister. What was she doing to get the money? Unlikely to be anything legal, that was for sure. That horrible former master of hers had made certain of that at the very least. He only hoped it wasn't anything that...

 

No, he did not want to think about what she could be doing to get the money. No young dwarrowdam should be left alone to fend for herself, especially not on the streets of a city, but he could not watch over her every second of the day. No matter how much he wished it wasn't the truth. Ori needed him to stay home and work, and Nori only pushed him away and refused to explain her behavior.

 

Trudging past the last of the stalls, Dori held tightly to Ori's hand. When someone called out his name, he kept his grip tight, turning and pulling Ori with him.

 

“Dori!” Dís said again, as brightly as the first time, reaching out to clasp his shoulder. “I thought it was you!”

 

“Lady Dís,” Dori greeted politely. “It has been awhile.”

 

Her face fell slightly. “Yes, it has,” she replied softly, then louder, “Do you live in the same house still?”

 

“Yes, my lady,” Dori replied politely, letting a little of his confusion seep into his tone of voice.

 

“Then I shall walk with you. Do you have time this afternoon? I would like to catch up with you and your siblings.”

 

Dori shook his head, “I am not busy today. The shop had to close early.”

 

“Good! Why don't you come have dinner with us today? My husband would be glad to meet you,” Dís said breezily, as if inviting Dori to come socialize with his royal family was no big deal.

 

“My lady, I couldn't impose...”

 

“Good thing I've invited you then,” Dís said, giving him a quelling look that made Dori feel like a child again, for all that she was years younger than him. Dís leaned down a little to face Ori, “Hello, Ori. I suppose you don't remember me?”

 

Ori turned pink, clutching at Dori with one hand as they moved to hide part of themself behind his leg while the other hand tugged at the bottom of their shirt. They shook their head no, their braids swinging as they moved.

 

She smiled at them easily, blue eyes warm and open. “Well, I'm sure my own dwarflings would love to meet you, even if you are older than either of them. Would you like to come to dinner?”

 

Ori paused, glancing up at Dori then back at Dís. They nodded shyly, flushing an even darker shade when she winked at them.

 

\- - -

 

Across the courtyard, green eyes narrowed in intrigue and confusion. Nori stood on her toes, hoping to get a better view of the conservation going on between her brother and the princess. She wasn't sure what to think, automatically feeling suspicious that Dís would come to talk with her brother when she had left them alone for so long.

 

Oh yes, she was glad that Dís had been there for their mother during the years of her childhood, but Nori couldn't help but wonder why the dwarrowdam had not bothered to contact them in the twenty and more years that had passed since their mother had died. After the funeral, she had just disappeared, not visiting or even sending a message to explain her absence.

 

Nori could understand her not wanting to spend time with them. It had been their mother she had been friends with, after all, not them. But Nori still had expected to receive a convincing explanation from the normally studious dwarrow, and none had come. Well, that is if you discounted the rumors and street talk and focused on the actual communication between Dís and their family.

 

In the last fifteen years, Dís had gotten married, to a miner of all people, causing much distress amongst the more traditional of the settlement, who believed she should have 'stayed within her station' in marriage. Then, having two children only five years apart was enough to keep any dwarrowdam ridiculously busy, especially one who had duties that needed attending to, like Dís.

 

So although the princess did have perfectly good excuses for not being there for her family, Nori couldn't help but resent just a little the way she had left them without a thought. She watched the little scene carefully, curious as to what was going on.

 

Nori was shocked out of her spying by Gyer, who was wondering why she had stopped walking with him. Speeding up quickly, she pulled up next to him, attempting to keep him from noticing the direction of her gaze.

 

It didn't work. “Ogling the princess, Nali? I hope you know she's taken,” he laughed, raising an eyebrow at her.

 

Nori glowered at him. “I wasn't ogling. I was curious.”

 

At this, Gyer became more serious. “You'd better not be thinking of stealing from her. The royal family of Erebor may be nobles, but they have as little as the rest of us.”

 

“I know that,” Nori countered. “I'm not an idiot.”

 

“Good,” Gyer said flatly. “Don't forget it.”

 

Nori tilted her head. “So you aren't one of those dwarrow who blame the royalty for our situation?”

 

“I did not say that.”

 

“You just told me to be nice to them,” Nori exclaimed, exasperated at Gyer's vagueness.

 

“That does not have to mean that I don't blame them,” he said, giving her a leveled look. “However, I do not. The lady Dís and her brother did not cause the fall of Erebor and have done their best to carve out a living for our people here.”

 

“So you don't then?” Nori needled.

 

“No. I blame their grandfather, who could not see past his own greed once the gold lust set in, and their father, who followed him much too easily and with too little criticism. They are the reason for our downfall, but I will not punish the rest of their family for deeds they had no hand in.”

 

Nori was quiet for a long while, glancing back at the marketplace that was disappearing behind them. Distracted, too busy thinking to pay attention, Nori messed up frequently and Gyer noticed. By the time that most people had started to shuffle on home for dinner, he dismissed her.

 

“If you can't focus, go home. It's not safe to be out with a wandering mind.”

 

Nori ran home, taking shortcuts to get there faster. She snuck through the door of her home, straining to hear voices. Somewhat surprisingly, there was still talk going on, about nothing important. They were discussing fabric texture, of all things, and Nori shuddered to think of poor Ori, stuck here and forced to listen.

 

She squared her shoulders and walked in confidently, completely ignoring Dís. Ori saw her and immediately cheered, “Nori!” and held their arms out for a hug. Nori laughed and lifted her sibling up easily, nuzzling into their hair.

 

Dori was giving her a worried but exasperated look that Dís smoothly cut off from developing into a rant. “Nori, there you are! We were going to go to my house for dinner, if you want to join us.”

 

Nori shrugged, nonchalant. “Haven't eaten.”

 

Dís flashed a smile, “Well, then you're welcome to come along.” The dwarrowdam gathered her skirts and swept out, Dori following behind after a moment. Nori put Ori down but let them hold her hand as they walked through the city.

 

Reaching the small house on the edge of the city took less time than Nori had expected. The home was nothing short of modest, almost unnoticeable except for the forge next to it, the forge that had King Thorin's brand pressed into the door. As they approached, a dwarrow with golden hair stepped out to greet Dís with a kiss to the cheek, which she waved away, laughing.

 

“This is my Víli,” she introduced idly, pushing him away playfully when he made to wrap an arm around her.

 

“Your Víli?” he said, pressing a hand to his chest in mock offense.

 

“Yes, mine,” she replied easily, flicking him. Víli smiled at her but turned more serious as he looked at them.

 

Dori pulled them forward, the manners drilled into his very being refusing to let him rest without proper introductions. Nori only glanced at the others when her name was called, to busy investigating the area in quick glances. Once she had done that to her satisfaction, she watched the couple with narrowed eyes.

 

She was soon startled out her inspection by a pair of unearthly shrieks. “AMAD!!” A light haired little bundle thwacked into Dís' leg, soon followed by a smaller and darker one. Dís didn't even sway at the sudden addition, just swept up both of the children and held them on each side of her hips. They burst into excited chatter with hardly a breathe in between words, the brown haired one clutching at their mother's smartly braided beard while the other garbled into her ear. Dís, trying to hold in laughter, calmed them down and whispered something to them, nodding at the small family in front of her.

 

They climbed down off their mother easily and stopped in front of Dori and Ori. Both were obviously younger than Ori and smiled brightly past the layer of dirt that seems to settle on any young dwarfling as soon as someone stopped watching them. For a long second, there was silence, then the elder burst out, “I'm Fíli! And this is Kíli.”

 

Ori, looking between Dori and Dís as though to make sure it was okay, replied shyly, “I'm Ori.”

 

Fíli beamed at them, reached out to offer their hand. “Do you wanna see our pony?” they asked, nearly vibrating with visible excitement. Ori paused then nodded and allowed their hand to be taken and tugged away from the little home.

 

Dís called out as they moved away, “Dinner is soon. Don't go too far!”

 

\- - -

 

When Ori came back laughing, Nori knew Dori would stay in touch with Dís. There was no way he would ignore anyone who made them happy. Otherwise, the dinner was awkward, Dori was too formal and Nori too distant. Dís didn't entirely seem to care how anyone acted and Víli was too busy messing around with his kids to pay much attention to everyone else.

 

They returned home in the later hours of the night, Ori held tightly to Dori's chest and Nori constantly on the lookout for anyone in the shadows. Dori could have taken almost anyone who would jump out at them, but he would be distracted by Ori and Nori wasn't sure enough of her fighting capabilities yet to relax.

 

Once they reached home, Nori slipped into her room and listened as Dori sang as he put Ori to bed. The comforting sounds lured her to sleep, and worked their way into her dreams. Waking up in the morning felt at once both a relief, and a loss.

 

After that, Nori found it easier to allow herself to be gone for long stretches of the day. She wasn't the only one looking after her family now, Dís was keeping an eye on them. Ori had playmates, even if they were a little young, a luxury never afforded to her siblings.

 

A year passed without anything of much interest happening. Nori spent as much time as she could out on the streets, working with Gyer to improve her skills. Dori worried, and fretted, and cleaned. Ori began to take lessons, more than what Dori had been able to teach them, from a friend of Dís. The dwarrowdam had refused to let a dwarfling with such a love of stories get away without learning their letters, and once the lessons had begun, Ori had begged to continue.

 

Nori's coming of age had been more of celebration than she had ever expected. Dís and Dori were determined to make it a party, when she had never thought she'd get anything special for it. She accepted the gifts that were given to her, small and mostly useful items. The only extravagant thing she got was a jeweled hair clip from Dori, who would not tell how he had gotten it.

 

She drank the ale Víli offered her, but stopped drinking it once the fuzziness of the mind began to set in. Nori didn't like the feeling of not being in control, it set her nerves into overdrive when she realized she couldn't react as well as she normally could. Dori gave her a huffy look at seeing the drink in front of her, which was almost got her to keep going, but she decided against it.

 

That also had been the first time they'd ever met their King. He'd come stumbling in, looking tired and worn. Although the rightful ruler of Erebor, without his throne Thorin was little more than a common citizen. He sat in councils meetings with the Lords of Ered Luin every once in a while, but normally worked in the forges like most dwarrow. Still the dwarrow of Erebor thought of him as their King. Stopping, Thorin had stared in confusion until Dís introduced them all with a wave of her hand. Dori started to jump up to do  so himself, but both royal siblings shook their heads at him. After that, he disappeared into his own rooms again, only pausing to greet his nephews who had ran up looking for a hug.

 

The next day, Nori told Gyer that she was of age. He had blinked at her for a second, having apparently forgotten that she wasn't as young as she appeared. She noticed his eyes flick up to her braids, where she still had not put in one that would have showed her choice of gender, unlike most dwarrows when they reached adulthood. He didn't react to the lack however, just congratulated her and made her pick the lock of the house next door.

 

A week afterward, Gyer causally said something that changed everything. “Our lessons will have to stop next week.”

 

Nori blinked at him, confused. “Why?”  


“I'm traveling. Perhaps to the Red Mountains, to see if any of my family are still living.”

 

“You're just going to leave?” Nori questioned, growing irritated.

 

Gyer looked her straight in the eyes. “Yes,” he said bluntly. “Even if I had a better reason to stay here other than teaching you, there is nothing more I can do for you.”

 

“You just told me two days ago that I wasn't good enough yet,” Nori stated accusingly.

 

“And that still holds truth. But it is impossible to teach you everything, especially when we are isolated in this city. A good thief, one who makes much but is still not caught, needs to travel and expand their knowledge through experience.”

 

Nori opened her mouth to say something, reject his assertion, but the knowing look in his eye slowed the words before they even reached her mouth. She glanced away, avoiding what she saw there. “I”ll come see you off then.”

 

He grabbed her shoulder, meeting her gaze solidly, “I will look forward to seeing you.”

 

For the next few days, Nori walked about in a haze. She knew, objectively, that she had been studying under Gyer for years and knew that she could survive on the streets alone. She had done it before. It still felt wrong. She watched Dori cook them dinner, watched Ori finish their assignment given to them by the teacher Dís had brought them to. She thought about how she would deal with things, without Gyer there to lend a helping hand.

 

She made a choice.

 

\- - -

 

Gyer stopped to adjust the strap on his pack, tugging at the cloth to make it sit better. He heard a slight noise from behind and above him and spoke without looking, “Come out, Nali.”

 

There was the swish of air and lightest of taps, the sound of a controlled fall and landing to his right. Nali stood there, body tense and seemingly ready to turn and run at the smallest provocation. He raised an eyebrow, watching them twitch. “Yes?” he prompted, noting that they seemed unwilling to say anything first.

 

They flicked their gaze to him, still not facing him directly, instead turning slightly to avoid his stares. He was about to add something else when they said, low as though they were not sure they wanted him to hear, “Can I come with?”

 

Gyer froze. “Nali,” he said quietly, “You still have a family, I know this even though you have not told me, and other reasons besides to stay here.”

 

“I want to be a better thief.”

 

“That doesn't mean you –”

 

“You said I won't be able to learn as much if I stay here.”

 

“... Yes. You will improve more if you travel. But that's doesn't mean you have to.”

 

Now, they looked him in the eyes, and he saw determination there that was normally missing. He was struck by it, by their sudden change in emotion. Nali never seemed to want to do anything, they were reluctant at best when it came to learning. Yet, he began to realize, they had always showed up, and followed him around, and perhaps he had been too blinded by the language they used to see the motivation behind it.

 

“I want to come.”

 

 


	6. Traveling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So each break in this chapter is a change in POV. (I know I said it would be all Nori but the characters insisted. I'm sorry)  
> Also Gyer gets some background here, if anyone was wondering where he came from. 
> 
> Gyer comes from the Red Mountains, the home of the other dwarf clans. It's past the Iron Hills, where Dain is from. I kinda thought that since it is separate from the others, they would have some cultural differences. The one I mentioned here is that they would have different common gender neutral pronouns. Gyer uses singular they for Nori because that's what people in the Blue Mountains and Erebor typically use. But when he is talking about someone from his culture, he uses ne/nem/nir/nemself instead. I hope this doesn't confuse anyone. 
> 
> Warning for what is essentially crossdressing to prevent the vaguely implied possibility of rape in the second section of the chapter. It isn't mentioned after that. Further explanation in the end notes

Dori tapped on the door to Nori's room, waiting to hear a response from within. When a minute passed and still there was no reaction or noise, he pushed open the door.

 

The room was empty. He blinked in shock, looking around. The room, more of a closet than anything else, was clean, in way it hadn't been in years. There were no clothes strewn about, the bedsheets were made, and the floor was clear of random possessions.

 

He stepped in, growing angry. Where had his idiot little sister gone to now? Things were missing from her room, that was obvious. What did she think she was doing?

 

There was something on the bed, a small bag. Lifting it up, Dori heard a slight sound, like the clinking of metal. He opened the bag, and froze. As he tiled the bag over his hand, a small pile of golden coins fell out onto it. He counted swiftly, muttering figures under his breath.

 

There was enough coin there to supplement his own earnings for least six months, more if he rationed carefully. Ori could get the supplies he needed for his lessons without Dori having to rely on Dís' charity. He could buy enough cloth to make them all new clothes and still have enough to –

 

Where had Nori gotten this? Dori felt worry course through his body, and felt the panic set in.

 

He cut himself off before his mind could get into the worst of his fears about her. No, he didn't want to know the answer to that. A better question at the moment would be, why give this to him now? That had to be why she had left it here, she'd know he would find it. She would have know he would find it.

 

The panic finally took over, causing him to lunge at the small chest where Nori kept her things and throw it open. He tugged out the little of what was left in it. Dori skimmed through the clothes quickly, a dress Nori would never wear, old worn shirts. Nothing of value was there. He glanced around the room, hoping there was someplace else. No. Nori's things were gone.

 

Where was she?

 

He sat hard on the bed, staring at the coins he had dropped everywhere when he had moved. Letting out a choked noise that might have been a sob, Dori let his head fall into his hands.

 

\- - -

 

Nori growled low in her throat as she tugged at the mess of her hair. The braids were refusing to comply with her plans. She had never tried to do anything new to it without Dori there to help her with the various layers needed to hold all of her hair, and her frustration was only making the problem worse. The braids she was trying to put in didn't look right, no matter how many times she redid them. She jerked the brush through it, hoping she figure this out before Gyer came back.

 

Worse, the rusty layers of hair had settled into hideous tangles overnight and brushing them out was taking much too long. Glaring at her reflection in the small mirror she had brought along for this very purpose, she snatched up a bottle of oil from her pack and began to run the softening oil along the length of her hair. Working the oil into the knots of hair, they loosened ever so slowly into more natural looking waves.

 

Once Nori had got it all mostly flat, she parted it into three separate sections and braided each one in simple plaits, each with its own meaning. Then she worked all three into a larger main braid. It was designed to keep her hair up and mostly out of the way, while still being her own distinctive style.

 

Nori admired the braids in her little mirror, making sure no hair was out of place. There was only one thing that she disliked, the third braid at her temple that told other dwarrows that she preferred male pronouns. She ran her fingers over it, tempted to rip it out then and there. It was a lie, but one she thought necessary.

 

To label herself a dwarrowdam was to make herself a bigger target. First of all, a guard or victim of her thievery who saw her braids could more easily find her if they knew she was a 'dam. Dwarrows took notice of their women, as there were so few, and that would help others identify her. Also, it just wasn't safe to proclaim herself female.

 

The loosening of morals after the fall of Erebor and the inability to enforce traditional rules about proper behavior made it easier not only for her to steal but for horrid dwarrows to take advantage of others. As a 'dam, she would be a prime candidate for their crimes, something she greatly wished to avoid. She remembered her amad's stories about the dwarrow who had tried to take advantage of her. The very idea disgusted her, and she knew she was not strong enough to fight off most attackers, unlike her amad. No, the braid would stay the way it was, for her own safety. 

 

Nori heard the crunching of leafs on the ground behind her and scrambled to tuck her mirror back into her pack. Sighing, she shook the bottle of oil. It was already running low and she had only been gone a few weeks. She wished her hair was more cooperative so she wouldn't have to use as much, but she doubted that would ever happen.

 

She felt a tingling down her neck and froze, knowing that Gyer was watching. His eyes were likely focused on the new braids, and she wondered what he would do. There was a long pause, but he said nothing, just walked over to spread out the ashes from their fire.

 

Gathering her things, she helped him clean up their campsite, hiding the fact that they were there at all. Gyer lead her down a path she had not seen when they had stopped for a rest the evening before.

 

“What's our next stop?” she pried, looking up at him with narrowed eyes.

 

“A city near the edge of Gondor. We should be there by next evening. ”

 

\- - -

 

Gyer had no idea why he had ever decided to take this ridiculous dwarfling in as an apprentice. For three cities in a row, Nali had almost gotten caught by the local guards. He hadn't signed up for babysitting, but that appeared to be his new job. He literally had had to drag them back to their inn two nights ago because they had snuck out to explore the city.

 

He rubbed his forehead, hoping the young dwarrow had listened to him this time and stayed in their rooms. His contact in this area wanted to meet with him, and they would not take happily to discovering an inexperienced thief wandering around his town. Gyer had no wish to pull Nali out of yet another disastrous situation.

 

He reminded himself that if he ever took in another street rat, to try and avoid the reckless and impulsive ones. A difficult task, surely, but better than having to deal with more late night escapades. There had been enough chases in the past week to last him another decade.

 

Sometimes Gyer began to wonder why he had ever allowed Nali to learn under him for so long. Most other times when he found a needy dwarfling, he taught them a few things before he had to leave the city. For Nali, he had risked himself by staying in the same town for too long, and had spent nearly everyday teaching the young one how to survive.

 

Except he knew exactly why he had done it. At first when he had saw them, Nali had looked like nothing more than another street rat. Gyer had been about to overlook them, to continue on after calling them out, when the smile on their face caught him unawares.

 

It had been the same type of rare smile he had seen on nem before. Ne had been surprisingly serious for a little dwarfling, just as stern as nir mother. The smile was a fading memory already, only twenty years gone. That spark of remembrance had slowed his feet, and swept his mouth ahead of his thoughts.

 

Nali was nothing like Torrun now he had time to get to know them. But they shared some features still and when he glanced at Nali in the corner of his eye, Gyer saw the face of his own child staring back at him. The ensuing protectiveness had not been unexpected after that.

 

His beloved Torrun and nir beautiful mother, Yura, had been taken from him when orcs attacked the run down town they lived in. The grief had nearly crushed him, the only reason he had to keep going had been needy dwarflings like Nali, who may have been abandoned or lost, or whose guardians were unable to look after properly. When he helped them, he felt hope again.

 

Gyer had had more than enough loss for one lifetime. His family had moved to Erebor a generation before he was born, and he had lost all of them when Smaug had come. His coming of age had been celebrated by no one but himself, alone in the villages of men, just a few months after the tragedy. Gyer had been training to be a scholar, he had no skill in the forge or fighting.

 

Like many other young dwarrows with no source of income, he had turned to thievery. Finding out that he was good at it only increased his reliance on it. Yura had been a guard in one of the small dwarven cities he had passed through. Without knowing the each other's profession, they had immediately recognized their Ones.

 

When Yura had found out that he stole, Gyer had expected to be booted from her life. Instead, she taught him to how to target people who deserved it, who guards would not bother to help much. She forced him to learn how to fight better, and practiced with him daily. She was a harsh taskmaster who pressed upon him the importance of not getting caught, then soothed away his aches and pains with gentle kisses. They kept their relationship hidden from the others of the city, not bothering to get married.

 

Torrun had been a surprise, but not an unwelcome one. Yura had pretended to be raising nem on her own, while Gyer spent as much time there as possible to help her. He could not have been there always of course, to stay in one town all the time would have been to allow himself to get arrested.

 

It had been on one such occasion when Gyer had been out of town when the orcs had attacked. Coming into the center the next day, he had seen the destruction and despaired. Many had survived but Yura was never the sort to stay out of the front lines, and Torrun had followed nir mother in secret.

 

His stern yet sweet child had perished in the midst of the battle, too sure of nir still developing skill with an ax to be cautious or sensible. Yura had been across the town, heading an attack on the main body of orcs. She had turned the tide of battle and saved the town, but had lost herself and her child in the fighting. Gyer had been left alone for the second time in his life.

 

Working with Nali, keeping them safe, was his apology to his family. He had not been able to keep them from falling to danger, but perhaps he could protect Nali. They were certainly making that task difficult enough.

 

\- - -

 

Nori laughed, high in her throat, as she sprinted through the dirty streets. Grasping onto the edge of a low hanging roof, she swung herself up and moved as quietly as possible away from the scene. She heard the yell of the guard below her in the street, calling for anyone to point out where she had gone. Practically skipping over the roofs of the homes, Nori headed back to the inn, knowing she was safe.

 

Maybe it was reckless to go out like she did, tempting fate with her escapades. But it was fun, especially as for once she didn't have to worry about Dori finding out about her activities. Gyer was almost as bad sometimes, but he at least let her figure things out on her own. Dori would have never let her out of his sights if they had gone on a trip together.

 

As she skidded across a crumbly patch of rock, Nori wondered where Gyer had gone tonight. He had told her that he had to meet with a business partner of his while they were here, but had given her no more information. This town was large, yes, but if she looked she could probably guess where he would be.

 

Best not, she didn't want to get lost. And it was late enough that she was beginning to feel like sleep would be a good idea. Gyer told her he planned to get them to the next city in three days, and he would likely force her to get up pretty early in the morning tomorrow.

 

\- - -

 

Ori held onto Dori's hand tightly. The dwarrows surrounding them were still much taller than they were, and raising on their tiptoes didn't do much to help. They wanted to see past the swaying hips in front of them.

 

If they got high enough of the ground, they might see Nori. They knew that they had seen Nori in these courtyards before, when she was supposed to be home and Dori had brought them with to the market. She had looked happy, sneaking around in the shadows and responding to calls from someone they didn't know and hadn't gotten a good look at.

 

Ori knew Nori would be home soon. She would never stay away for too long. She'd promised to show them how to play card games and she wouldn't just not do it. They had made sure to keep the cards safe in their room to pull out quickly when Nori got back.

 

They thought Nori was probably just out wandering the city. They remembered the stories she had told them about the things and people she saw around, as they tucked up together under the blankets while Dori was busy. She'd been to nearly every part of the city, but always said there was more she would like to see.

 

They hoped Nori got back soon.

 

\- - -

 

Nori rifled through her own pockets, pulling out what trinkets she'd managed to slip away from their proper owners during the day. A necklace, with what were probably fake emeralds, some loose coin of various types, a small bag which held a collection of various stones for no discernible reason, and a clasp for holding some rich lady's cloak together. It had been loose and had fallen as Nori passed the woman by.

 

She'd taken it, curious at what had caused it to fall off so easily. Now Nori examined it fully, twisting the little jeweled piece around in her hands. It was a decent quality, but obviously manmade, lacking the delicacy and precision of dwarven works. The jewels appeared to real, not the clever glass fakes favored by most men.

 

Flicking the little latch closed to see where the problem was, she saw that the little hook which had held the pin in place had been bent horrifically out of place. Automatically, she pulled a pin from her hair and attempted to use the larger piece to unbend the hook. It worked somewhat, the hook straightening enough to allow the pin to slip under, but any strain on the clasp forced it open once again.

 

Trying to work the hook into place was failing miserably. The hairpin was too thick to properly fit under the hook, the clasp itself was made awkwardly, so that the pin did not quite sit right along the back of the clasp as it should. She had no seeing glass to focus on the hook with and her tools were terrible.

 

Nori looked up from the clasp, and realized many minutes had passed as she had sat there and tried to fix a broken clasp. She dropped it into her lap, irritated at herself for getting distracted. Clasping her hands together, her fingers were noticeably shaking, and she wanted to keep messing with the broken accessory.

 

She twitched, and reached out for the clasp, which still lay on the bed near her. Nori could feel something she had not felt in years, a calling to her craft that she had neglected and ignored in favor of thievery and excitement.

 

The desire built up in her and she was about to pick up the piece when she remembered the failures of attempting to fix it before. Her talent and skill was not in this, not in fixing delicate jewelry and designing pieces, but in sneaking through dark streets and slipping a hand into a pocket without anyone noticing. This was beyond her.

 

Nori threw the clasp across the room, heard it hit the wall with a dull thud. Anger swarmed behind her eyes and pushed its way out in the form of frustrated tears. She wiped her eyes with quick jerks, refusing to let the tears touch the cloth before her. Curling into herself, she ignored the clasp on the floor and pulled out one of the knives she now carried with her. Mindlessly, she ripped holes into the simple cloth bag she had stolen, forgetting if there was anything she had planned to do that day.

 

\- - -

 

Gyer stepped into the room, hours later. He paused, surprised that Nali had not gone wandering for once. “Something happen I should know about?” he asked, focusing on them until they met his eyes.

 

“No,” they said shortly. “I just didn't feel like going out.”

 

Gyer wasn't sure he believed them, knowing the sort of trouble they could get into. He stepped forward and heard a crunch under his boot. He knelt, and found what appeared to be a poorly made clasp. There was a hairpin stuck in its side. He observed it thoughtfully and glanced up at Nali from his position.

 

They pretended he wasn't there, sharpening a knife like they had nothing better to do. Gyer knew the piece had not traveled with them, and that Nali must have stolen it recently. He did not know why they seemed to have thrown it across the room.

 

Unable to explain the feeling in his gut, Gyer carefully slipped the clasp into his pocket, feeling the light weight settle into place. In all other respects, he acted as though he had not found it, watching from the corner of his eye as Nali began to relax when he said nothing.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nori decided to do the dwarven version of crossdressing, by putting in the wrong gender braids. She doesn't want to be a target for dwarves who are taking advantage of the inability of their govt to punish them for crimes properly to abuse dwarrowdams. She also thinks that she will be more invisible and protected if thought of as a man. 
> 
> I hope people like Gyer. Coming up with good character backstories is harder than I thought it would be!


	7. Meetings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so the first part is just me explaining my hcs for bearing dwarrows/dwarrowdams' periods basically, so feel free to skip it cuz it's not important to the plot, I just thought it was interesting to talk about. 
> 
> We're back to (mostly) Nori's POV. 
> 
> Sorry this is a little late. Tbh, I didn't have a third of this written by Sat so I'm glad I got it out by now. I'll try to use my free time this week wisely and get a little farther.

Nori woke up and immediately knew something was off. For one thing, it was light out, the birds were singing, yet Gyer had not woken her yet. She stumbled out of her bed roll, eyes adjusting to the bright morning light. His things were still on the ground by the campfire, which was little more than ash now, which told her he would soon be back.

 

She moved to get ready for the day and noticed a strange feeling in her pants. Cursing, she felt the tackiness between her legs and glared at the bloody stain that came off on her fingers. She lunged for her pack, grasping the thick cloth she had brought along for this problem. She hated being a bearer. Bleedings were inconvenient, and messy. 

 

Thankfully like many dwarrowdams and bearers, Nori hardly ever got her bleedings. Unlike Mannish women's supposed monthly pains, 'dams were likely to have very inconsistent schedules. Only those who were very fertile, like Zhori had been, had a regularity to their bleedings, which was why they were able to have children so easily. The rest of bearers bled more sporadically, able to bear children but needing many tries to get pregnant. Then there were ones like Nori, who hardly ever got theirs, it happening maybe twice a year at the most and never at the least.

 

Although many would consider her unlucky, because it would be very unlikely for her ever to have a child of her own, Nori was typically glad that she was one of the last group. She didn't have to worry about hiding her bleeding because it almost never came. Of course, one of the few times it did come, she had to be out on a trip where it would be difficult to hide.

 

Nori pawed through her blankets, making sure she had managed to avoid staining them, as they would be hard to replace without Gyer noticing. Relaxing when she found that she had not, she knew she would have to get moving. The pants were definitely a lost cause, she could get more in the next town anyway. Stripping them off and slipping on another with a cloth tucked in to keep that pair safe, she balled the ruined clothing up and ducked into the woods, hiding it in a small hole where it would be likely be left alone.

 

\- - -

 

Nori shifted from foot to foot, slowly as to not create a noise with the changing of her weight. A small creak, the roof protesting under her movements, froze her to her spot. She watched with bated breath and narrowed eyes, the silhouettes below her, waiting until they did not react to relax her muscles once again.

 

Settling down, she hoped the conservation got more interesting. It seemed a waste to spend all this time following Gyer around only to listen to him talking about boring business deals for hours. Discussing working borders was all well and good but didn't exactly make for intriguing eavesdropping material.

 

“Líg is causing trouble again,” the strange dwarrow intoned, rolling their shoulders back like they wished could beat up whoever they had mentioned. “He's been driving Durek mad with all his ridiculous stunts and horrible lies.”

 

“What's he done this time?” Nori sat up straighter at the gossip, straining to hear Gyer's replies.  
  
“Insulted some noble who's after Durek's head.”

 

Gyer groaned, “Someone needs to teach that boy a lesson before he brings us down with his own idiocy.”

 

The dwarrow grunted in agreement, nodding his head. “Durek's gonna come down on him soon. I'd recommend avoiding Líg until he does. Wouldn't want to get caught up in that.”

 

\- - -

 

Gyer nodded his thanks, thoughts already focused on his own troublemaker. To be frank, he was rather impressed with Nali's performance today. They had managed his notice for at least a third of the way here, and he could hear no noise from their current perch.

 

They had improved in the past few weeks, that was for certain. Thankfully, most dwarrows, even thieves, did not bother to be as observant as he, and Drati had yet to realize that Gyer's apprentice was lingering above his head. If he had, he would not have taken it well at all, sensibly unwilling to house an inexperienced young thief running around his streets.

 

Eventually the discussion dwindled down to nothing, Gyer skillfully avoiding any topics that would cause tension or that Nali had no need to know about. Once he had left, he paid attention to the slight noises behind him and paused about halfway to their destination. Looking into the deepest area of shadow, he called out, “Come down.”

 

Nali obeyed, dropping four-footed like a cat down on the street. “What gave me away?” they asked, as they stood back up, rolling back on their heels.

 

He raised an eyebrow at them. “Watch out for squeaky tiles.”

 

They made an irritated noise, “Knew I should have avoided those slanted roofs.”

 

Gyer frowned and reminded them to be careful.

 

“Aw, I didn't think you cared,” Nori cooed, leaning into him.

 

He turned away, reprimanding them with a flick of his hand. “Let's go. We should not linger, for Drati would be angry to find I'd snuck in another thief under their nose.”

 

Nali huffed, “Will I ever meet anyone?”

 

“When you earn it.”

 

At his answer, they made an exasperated face. Following just a few steps behind him, reminiscent of the last few weeks of travel, they followed him to the inn. He hear them turning to watch their surroundings, heard the shuffle of their feet slow to accommodate that unfamiliar area, and smiled to himself. 'Don't get caught' was his mantra and Nali had learned it well.

 

\- - -

 

Nori mused as Gyer led her through a familiar forest, on a path she traveled down once before, but in the opposite direction. They had not gone to the Red Mountains, instead traveling down nearly to a land she'd never heard of that Gyer called Harad. The only people that had been around had been men, and they had passed by many towns where the inhabitants eyed them suspiciously as they went.

 

Still, in many of the larger cities, Gyer had greeted other thieves like they were siblings, not near strangers. When she had wondered how he managed to find them, he taught her how to look for the signs. Knotwork hung in the corners of windows or doorways, carvings on the door and wall all pointed to safe houses and places of rest for those who lived off through illegal activities. Even as he warned her to be careful, for not every scoundrel was just a thief, he pulled out a bundle of wool and showed her how to knot.

 

Nori soon found another skill for her quick fingers to master. Getting the designs perfect was hard, but every time she got one right, she earned a small smile and quiet explanation of the meaning of the symbol. The thief's smile, for a safe place, a warning for one that would get you caught. There were more and she learned them as quickly as she could. As she completed each one, Gyer showed her the sign that went along with it, scratching it into the dirt at their feet or into the bark of a nearby twig.

 

When Gyer began to lead her back to Ered Luin, turning their path back upwards, avoiding their first stops to prevent incidents, she didn't complain. In her heart, she felt a longing for home, for her siblings. At times, as they stomped down the path, Nori unconsciously felt her steps speed up, almost passing Gyer once or twice. He said nothing, but the look in his eyes told her he noticed her rush.

 

By the time they got back, the city was dark. Night had fallen, heavy and still, and Nori nearly got lost as she made her way home. She wondered if she had forgotten the layout of the city while she had been gone or if the dark was just covering up the familiar traits of the streets. The door to her house felt thicker than she remembered and it took more strength to push it open than ever before.

 

Slipping into the kitchen, she wondered if she was surprised that nothing appeared to have changed. The table was the same old, beaten up, wooden one, with the same chairs tucked carefully under it in the same formation as always. She peeked in her room, and saw it just as she had left it, bed made and all. Dropping her pack in the room, she stared for a long minute before turning away and sitting in the kitchen. It was late enough that it would soon be early. Dori would be up as soon as the sun was.

 

Watching the sun come up was comforting, and Nori was sure she dozed off once or twice. But as soon as Dori began to move around, she jerked awake, a hint of panic curling in her chest. She rolled the tension out of her shoulders and acted nonchalant as Dori walked out of his room only to freeze at the sight of her.

 

After a brief second, he threw himself across the room and clutched her to him. “Dori!” she groaned, pushing against him lightly. “Let go.”

 

He didn't, but at the sound of her voice, began to lecture her in a low, cracking tone. “Where have you been? Do you know how worried we've been?”

 

“Dori...” she tried, but he cut her off, pulling away to smack the back of her head lightly as he talked. She glared at the scuff but let him keep going, staring out the window and trying her best to ignore his long-winded complaints.

 

Dori knew she wasn't listening fully, but puttered around the kitchen as he nagged, pushing a plate of food over to her and watching hawklike until she ate it all. He came behind her to investigate her new braids, even as she grumbled and tried to push him off her hair. She could feel him memorizing how she had braided it, and knew he would force her to wash it and would braid it himself that evening.

 

Only when he went to get Ori, did Dori finally stop lecturing her. He wasn't done, he never would be, but he would let her off, for now. Within a minute of him leaving, Ori was sprinting out from their room and launching themself at Nori without a second thought.

 

Nori hugged them back, and followed along easily as they began to list out to her everything that had happened while she had been gone. Ori told her all about their escapades with Fíli and Kíli, who seemed determined to drag them along on all of their idiotic adventures. They seemed to typically end with one of the adults being dispatched to rescue and lecture the little ones.

 

Víli was apparently the kindest and Thorin or the teacher, Balin, the most likely to be irritated or disappointed. Dwalin, Balin's younger sibling and a close friend to the King, was the least favorite to find them however, because they apparently would normally turn the problem into a lesson for the little princes, forcing them to work with them on their weapons training. They typically ignored Ori, not making them do anything, but had offered to train them too. Ori, a little terrified at the sheer bulk of the older dwarf, and knowing Dori would beat Dwalin for even suggesting the idea, had stuttered out a refusal.

 

Nori listened to her little sibling's ramblings quietly, letting the dwarfling get their excitement out. When asked why she hadn't been home, Nori winked and leaned down to promise Ori to tell them everything while Dori wasn't paying attention. Ori grinned at this, clutching at their sister happily.

 

Nori had slipped out by the middle of the afternoon, and Dori had not been surprised to find her missing when he returned home from work. But she was there again by dinner, and for the next few weeks, spent more time at home than she had in years. And the money Dori had stored increased, not little by little as it had before, but suddenly with her arrival.

 

\- - -

 

“You can come to the Hoghead's Bar tomorrow. You look old enough that the others won't question you.”

 

Nori felt herself stiffen at Gyer's sudden statement. She narrowed her eyes, suspicious at his change in behavior. “You didn't want me to meet other thieves before.”

 

“You've progressed,” he said simply, challenging her to complain.

 

“When?” Nori asked, deciding to ignore his unspecific answer and focus on the opportunities before her.

 

Gyer told her to meet him in the afternoon, saying “The night crowd still might be a little much for you.”

 

The bar was dirty, and loud and Nori knew with every fiber of her being that Dori would have hated it there. She smirked slyly at the knowledge and glanced around, hoping to spot someone interesting. Gyer didn't pressure her to stay by his side, but he also waved her over to people he wanted her to meet.

 

Before they had entered, he had grabbed her, and whispered into her ear, “If you want to be one of us, you must be careful. Interact with caution and wait for me to introduce you to Durek before you try to speak with anyone else.”

 

Nori had nodded, uncertainty creeping up into her throat at the solemness of his tone. Once in the bar, Gyer had led her to the back, to a table surrounded in pipe smoke, a group of relaxed looking dwarrows gathered around it.

 

“Gyer!” the one furthest back had greeted warmly, getting up to clasp the other dwarrow's forearm. “You were gone for a while there, did you collect any reports for me?”  


Gyer nodded, “I talked to any of our members I could find on our trip. I can give you a full report later.”

 

“Our?” Durek replied, eyebrows crinkling, their thinness a complete contrast to his bushy hair, which looked ready to pop out of its strained braid and into a curly mass. Then he saw her, and grinned in a way that looked kind but sent a shiver down her spine. “Who is this little one then?”

 

Against what was perhaps her better judgment, Nori felt her back snap straight and her eyes glare. “I’m not a kid,” she said sharply, regretting the harshness to her words immediately.

 

She almost tensed, sure soon enough she would get a hand to the face or something worse. For what felt like hours, there was a thick, heavy silence as Durek watched her. She did her best to hold up under his stare, tilting her chin up haughtily and hoping her irritation would last long enough to continue boosting her confidence.

 

Durek's face broke into a true grin and he threw his head back and laughed, deep and cheerful. “Well, you're a feisty little one, aren't you? Hold onto that fire, lad, it'll save your life someday.” He turned back to Gyer, adding jokingly, “I thought you didn't take on apprentices, scholar.”

 

Gyer gave him a one shoulder shrug, “Perhaps I changed my mind.”

 

Durek, looked at Nori, and she could feel his eyes cutting through her. “He any good?”

 

She couldn't help but let her spine stiffen again, irritated at his repeated questioning of her. Durek smirked, almost imperceptibly, at the slight movement of her body. When Gyer replied that she was good enough not to get caught, there was laughter all around, as though he had made the best joke of the night.

 

Afterward, Nori allowed herself to be swept under Durek's arm, for all that she wished she could toss him over her shoulder for touching her. He dragged her around the bar, apparently determined to introduce her to everyone in the room himself. Gyer went to the bar, and she could feel him keeping one eye on her but not doing anything to stop him.

 

First, she meet the other dwarrows around the back table. Sigi, Durek's right hand, a heavily scared dwarrowdam who watched her closely. Islu, who spent the entire time flipping a knife through their fingers and refused to give a craft. Ovan, with golden hair and a bright laugh who smelled of thick perfume and blew kisses that seemed to hide the threat of daggers at the dwarrows around him.

 

Then there were the other pickpockets, flighty and as young as her or more. The illegal miners who were just there for a drink but grinned at her anyway. Many of the cons and scoundrels of the city all drinking together in the one bar no guard or noble would ever dare to walk into.

 

After making a round, Durek left her on her own, and she found herself near the pickpockets and petty thieves, who beckoned her over and shared stories of chases through the city and theft gone wrong. Some bragged about getting arrested and slipping out of their cells by morning using hidden lockpicks. Others warned her away from certain areas, telling her of how the guards patrolled more there.

 

Nori found herself leaning more towards the ones who laughed over their failures and how played games with their knives, throwing darts and teasing each other. One of them kept inviting her into conversation, a handsome dwarrow with pale skin and thick brown hair. He told her to call him Bét, as he laughing filched a slice of bread from someone, who shook their head at him and stole it back.

 

The next day, Nori was slipping through a back alley, when Bét called out, “Nali?” When she turned, he beamed triumphantly and moved to stand next to her. “Knew it was you,” he said confidently. “Having fun?”

 

She shrugged lightly, tugging a coin purse out of her pocket and tossing it, “Depends on your definition, I guess.” He matched her smirk and nudged her side with his elbow.

 

“You sound a bit like Gyer,” he laughed. “Got some education, do you?”

 

She glanced at him, hoping she wasn't giving too much about herself away, “What, do I look like some snotty noble's kid?”

 

He shook his head, “Nah. But you never know who you'll get in this business.”

 

Nori said, “Well, no education here. Tried that and it went badly. So here I am.”

 

Bét laughed, “Welcome to the party, Nali. Coming to the bar tonight?”

 

“Should I?”

 

“Aye, it'll be interesting. Some others are supposed to be coming back tonight. I can introduce you to the rest of gang.”  


“Guess I'll be there then.”

 

 

 


	8. Changing Situations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING!!!! very important. This chapter is not happy. Attempted sexual assault, violence, injury, and a transphobic comment all occur in third section of chapter, and related feelings continue until the end. This makes up most of the chapter, so yeah. 
> 
> I didn't really want to make such a sad chapter, but it fit in with what I wanted to do and I couldn't figure out another way to achieve what I wanted. I hope it's not cliche or anything. ( this is why i need a beta, whoops) If anyone doesn't want to read, I totally understand and put a quick summary in the end notes. I promise the first part of the chapter is okay though. 
> 
> Sorry about the weird choppiness in the last bit of the chapter. Nori went into a bit of shock and started getting all out of sorts on me.

 

That night, Bét stuck to her side, leading her around the room with a gentle hand. They sat together, him asking her quiet questions about her trips, her trying to avoid telling him too much about herself but opening up more than she expected to. He offered to buy her a drink and was surprised when she said no.

 

 

He seemed determined to make her feel like she fit in, and she was glad that he cared but also a little uneasy at the attention. The frequent touches put her off and she did her best to keep a little distance between the two of them. No one else seemed to notice her purposeful avoidance, she fooled them into ignoring it by acting open and friendly, joking along even she analyzed their behavior to try to understand them in case anything happened.

 

She didn't trust them. Yes, they were fun to be around and similar interests to her, but those interests made them suspect. Nori couldn't let her guard down because any of them might happily rob her blind if they could. Even as she went to the bar more and more often, she stayed distant, never inviting them to see her outside of the bar and always checking to make sure no one ever followed her home.

 

If Nori went to meet someone who had invited her somewhere, she slipped out the back way from her house and only met people streets away. She didn't want to lead anyone to her siblings, she could see how that could end terribly. She didn't correct them when they called her 'he', knowing that the braid in her hair had deceived them. It kept her safer, for all that she hated it.

 

Before she would go home, Nori would do her best to take that braid out. Dori and Ori knew her as their sister, and she wanted it to stay that way. Things at home seemed to have settled into the same kind of routine that they had had before she left. Nori avoided Dori's questions and went out every day. Ori did their lessons while Dori worked at the tailor's. The only thing different was now Nori saw the royal family of Erebor around everywhere.

 

Dís was always finding a way to budge herself into their lives, dragging them to her house or barging into theirs. Her young kids loved Ori and dragged them anywhere they could. Balin, a cousin of the family, thought Ori was their best student, and sometimes would offer to teach them outside of their classes, since they were progressing far past Kíli and Fíli.

 

Dwalin, the guard, was the most prominent in Nori's life. Now that she had more experience, she had started going for the bigger, more difficult items, and Dwalin was the most active of the guards. She'd seen them around, arresting thieves, keeping an eye on the young princes, with the King, but never talked to them.

 

\- - -

 

Nori skidded into an alley, the heavy necklace from a noble's neck and their coin purse held in her hands. She'd started to pause, surprised to hear no response when she knew that she had bungled that grab. Then a low bellow sounded across the way, and she sprinted off as quick as she could. Darting into the marketplace in an attempt to throw off the perusing dwarrow, she looked back to see Dwalin's angry face behind her.

 

She ducked around carts, hearing him crash into them instead of swerving but they continued on, even when they slammed their legs into the front of a stall. Nothing seemed to stop them, and she tried to use her speed to her advantage, legs straining to cover more distance. She glanced over her shoulder repeatedly, unsure of how they remained so close behind her. Her heart was pounding, and she was _excited_.

 

It had been so long since a guard got this close to catching her. Nori was lighter them most dwarrows, able to slip through crowds and run quickly. Guards often lost her after a street or two, too heavy to keep up with her light feet. Dwalin was big, but they ignored the obstacles in their way and chased with a mindless determination. It was new, and interesting.

 

She knew she should be scared of getting caught, of being forced into a cell that she might not escape and could end up stuck in for a long time. But the rush of the chase sent thrills up her spine and she laughed, giddy and high, as they passed through the busy section of the city and ended up in the back ways.

 

She knew theses streets, knew where she could get away easily. Leading him to a dead end alley, she played scared as he went to grab her, then ducked around them and up.

 

They recovered his balance, and looked around for her, but Nori was already two streets over, leaping across the rooftops with ease. She heard them growl and yell and swear, and told herself she should avoid that guard. She wouldn't though. There was a _challenge,_ something that she had been lacking.

 

That night, she asked the others for their experiences with him and they all groaned. “Every since they joined the guard,” they complained, “so many of us have been arrested. Might as well call them a watchdog. Most of others will give up after a little run but they'll just keep going.”

 

One added, “I'd never been caught until that bastard came along.”

 

“It's ruining my reputation, getting arrested like that." another moaned, half drunk already.

 

“I hate guards who actually give a shit,” a younger dwarrow muttered, glaring darkly at the wall. “Makes our jobs so much harder, and what does it accomplish? Nothing, that's what.”

 

\- - -

 

The first time Bét tried to give her a gift, she had started to take it, only to pause. “Why?” she asked him, watching him plainly.

 

“Why not?” he replied.

 

She handed it back, dropped the elaborate cloak clasp he must have stolen back into his hands, watching as he almost dropped it. “I don't need this,” she said simply, turning away and shifting away when he touched her.

 

The second time he had tried to give her a gift, it had been in full sight of everyone in the bar. Not that they would claim to be paying attention, but she could feel their eyes on them as soon as Bét reached for her.

 

He'd pulled out a decorative dagger from nowhere, almost startling her into whipping out her own knives. Bét pushed the knife at her, in a desperate fashion that had her backing slowly away from him. “Please take it,” he begged, “I want to you have it.”

 

“Give your gifts to someone else,” Nori replied hotly, refusing to take what was definitely a courting gift from a dwarrow she barely knew. “I'm not interested.”

 

He let out a heartfelt sigh and tucked the knife away in his coat and tried to pretend nothing had happened. Nori kept away from him, moving to the other side of the table and talking to a quiet dwarrowdam who looked understandingly between her and Bét but said nothing.

 

She could feel Bét's eyes on her the whole time, and she did her best to ignore his stare. There were whispers across the room, and she knew some of them were about the two of them. Yet, most of the others gave her no hard looks for denying him, just watched with curiosity and did not get involved.

 

She wondered if this was not the first time Bét had attempted to court someone unwilling and if people ignored it because they knew it would happen again. Or if they just did not care about her plight, too selfish and focused to worry about her. Nori suspected a combination of both.

 

When he seemed apologetic the next night, she allowed him to sit by her again, but kept an eye on him. Nori didn't want him to think that was an invitation to try again, or to bother her about courtships. Actually, she rather hoped that refusing him would make any other potential suitors back off.

 

Courting just seemed inconvenient, and distracting. Why should she spend her money and time on some stranger? That was for family and perhaps friends alone. And she supposed, her One, but what were the odds she'd ever find them? Or that they would the type of person she'd like and get along with?

 

No, count her out of those confusing and irritating courtship rituals. If Bét thought he could win her over with a few pretty gifts, he was looking down the wrong path. She promised herself to stop him, whether with words or a swift kick, if he tried again.

 

A week later, Bét caught up to her a few streets away from the bar, tapping her shoulder before pulling away. “Can I talk to you?” he asked, the light glinting off his eyes.

 

She watched him closely but nodded. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a package and she felt her temper rise.

 

“Bét,” she snapped, “I already told you – ”

 

“Please, just look at it,” he added pleadingly.

 

“I don't want to be courted,” Nori stated, stepping back. “Stop trying.”

 

His face hardened. “Fine.” He dropped the package, let it lie on the ground and made no move to pick it back up.

 

She started to move away, and he grabbed her arm. She could feel his fingernails digging into her skin, and she tried in vain to pull away. “Let me go!”

 

“I wanted you to change your mind,” he said, ignoring her.

 

“Too bad!” Nori spat, finally twisting her arm out of his grip only for him to wrap his arms around her and push her into the wall behind them.

 

Her vision went a little black as she felt the air slam out of her lungs and pain shoot up her back where he had backed her into the wall. When she came back to herself, he had a hand in her hair. She flinched back, trying to escape the feeling of wrongness she got from having someone touch her hair without her permission.

 

Even the hand Bét was trying to slip down her pants felt less violating than the one in her hair, and she wished she could bite him from here. He pressed his face to her ear, and she tried to jolt away as he whispered, “You're too pretty to be anything other than a bearing 'dam. Why don't I check?” She felt bile rise up in her throat at his statement, and went to bite him, now that he was in range.

 

When her teeth brushed his cheek, he growled and jerked her hair, ripping out a few strands. She yelped at the pain, and he grinned viciously at her as he shifted his hold to slowly choke her. Her hands went to her throat, trying to shove him off and failing.

 

She found it harder and harder to breath and he had slipped a hand down her pants, smirking triumphantly. Pulling her hands away from her throat, knowing it would do no good, she went looking for any kind of weapon to hit him with. Sliding the into his coat pockets, as he was too distracted to notice her light touches, she found a knife, perhaps the very one he had tried to give to her before.

 

Reacting as quickly as possible, she flung the knife up into his arm, ignoring his howl of pain in favor of slipping out from under him. He lunged, and she thrust the knife forward automatically, still scrambling to draw breath. There was a dull, slicing noise, thick and heavy. Bét's face was shocked and pained as she looked from it to the knife stuck in his chest.

 

He was slipping, falling down. She made no move to break his fall, letting go of the handle and stumbling back. The blood spread, flowing out into a puddle of dark red. The package, still on the ground was slowly becoming soaked with it.

 

She reached out, then pulled back, unsure what she wanted to do. The life was already fading from his eyes. She felt sick and exhausted. Hand pressed to her head, she nearly threw up, dry heaving forcefully. She couldn't stay there. She ran instead.

Even as she ran, Nori could feel herself shaking. There was blood on her hands, on her shirt. Her hair was falling apart, tumbling out of it's braids. Her shirt was ripped, tugged out of her pants by his wandering hands. She was a mess. Where could she go?  
  
The bar was out, and no respectable, and therefore reliable, doctor would take in a thief, especially this late at night. She didn't want to force this on Dori, but … Dori was safe. She went home, lungs still feeling too tight for her chest.

 

\- - -

 

Pausing outside her front door, Nori froze, scared to go inside. Dori shouldn't be exposed to this, Dori was pure. She shouldn't have come here, should have gone to Gyer, who would have understood, who would have kept her safe without her ruining him.

 

She was going to move, to leave. But the door was already opening.

 

Dori was in shock, she could see it on his face. He saw the blood and nothing else, saw the stain of it on her and his eyes hardened and she saw him open his mouth to yell, to demand an answer, to cry. Then he focused on her, all of her.

 

He saw the hair, ripped out of its braids. He saw the torn tunic and overall grittiness on her normally fairly clean clothes. He saw the bruises on her face and neck, saw the way she shook like a feather in the wind and the look in her eyes.

 

He pulled her in, and closed the door.

 

Dori said nothing as he led her to the kitchen. He pulled out an old rag, and carefully wiped the blood off, cleaning the rag in a bucket of dish water. Pressing her down into a seat, he went into her room and got another shirt, throwing the old one into the fire. Once she stopped shaking, he held her gently, and began to take her hair out of its braids, brushing it like he hadn't since she was small and more willing to sit still.

 

When she broke down in his arms, he sang a quiet lullaby and rocked her until she calmed.

 

\- - -

 

Nori knew she could hide away in her brother's arms forever. The next day she returned to the bar, hiding her bruises under long, thick sleeves, a high neckline and a hood. When the hood came off, she kept her head high, hoping her confidence would mask her guilt.

 

There was no talk, no acknowledgment that anything had changed at all. The dwarrows she had sat with the night before, greeted her easily. If anyone mentioned Bét, she did not hear it, While she did feel some eyes on her, no one reacted in any way like she'd expected. When she saw Gyer later that night, he only pressed a hand to her shoulder before walking away.

 

She was left confused, but glad.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Bet is a creepy little shit who won't stop trying to get Nori to court him, even though she turns him down repeatedly. He corners her in a quiet alley and gets aggressive when she refuses him again. He commits two very big no-nos - one is touching someone else's hair without permission which I think would be a very bad thing in their society and two, trying to rape a dwarrowdam, which I think other dwarrows would not be okay with because 1 - their women are important and 2- its a shitty thing to do to anyone and I believe in progress dwarves. Nori defends herself and ends up stabbing him. She flees in shock home, and Dori takes care of her when he realizes what has happened.
> 
> As for the last bit of the chapter, when the other thieves don't react to Bet's murder, I have an explanation. Bet has tried to court most of the 'dams that go to that bar, and everyone is kinda used to him being a bit of a creep, so they ignored his attempts with Nori. I think that with the others, he either didn't try to rape them, or they didn't have sufficient proof that he had done something (like he drugged them so they didn't know it was him). When he was found dead, they saw the defense wounds, and maybe one of the other girls came out and said he'd tried something with them. Since it's pretty ingrained in my version of dwarven society that rape is not okay, they left it alone. 
> 
> I really hope no one liked Bet. Trust me, he was an ass.


	9. Old Combinations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here, in celebration (the opposite really) of my break ending, have a chapter. 
> 
> Okay, some news: First of all, my school does finals after break (which is so stupid, but whatever) so I might be too busy to post something next week or the week after, Idk yet. On a happier note, I planned out the next few chapters, so hopefully that help me get the writing done faster. This is supposed to be done soon, but we'll see. 
> 
> Warnings for this ch: Violence in the second section, mentions of death and injury in pretty much the whole thing, Nori's still dealing with the affects of the last ch, esp in the 1st section, so yeah. I think that's it. But there's also a lot of cute Ri family interaction in the last couple sections!

Nori needed to leave. She had made sure that no one would turn her in for what had happened, and now she needed a break. Lingering in the city, she felt her lungs constrict and her heart beat faster and she had to go somewhere unknown, where nothing would remind her of him.

 

She packed quickly, quietly, hoping to get away before Dori saw her. But he peeked in and saw anyway, and she froze in his gaze. He held it for a second, then turned away. She relaxed and knew that night he would be fussier then normal but for now, he would let her be.

 

A map spread out on her bed, taken from some passing merchant, Nori planned out a path, down to a town on the edges of the settlement, then back home. Just enough to let her forget what had happened so that she could come back without the heavy weight of fear on her shoulders.

 

Nori wondered if she should feel guilty that it wasn't fear at her own ability to hurt others that scared her most. It wasn't even the fear of being caught, of being arrested that motivated her. It was the dark ache she got in her back when she looked down the wrong alley, the way her breath still came fast when someone else got too close.

 

She was scared of her own fear. She didn't want to a be a weak thing, jumping at shadows because they reminded her of him. No, Nori wanted to be free of his influence and when she had gotten away from here, then she would be.

 

Not to say that she wasn't worried about how she had killed him so easily. That hadn't been the plan, and it wasn't exactly something she wanted to make a habit of. But she thought that if she went back in time, and the same thing happened again, she would not hesitate to do it again. At the time it had been the only solution, and she was too glad to be alive to bother being too distressed.

 

That night she left, using the cover of darkness to slip away without a trace.

 

\- - -

 

Nori slipped under the barrier that separated the main room of the store from the back. The store was suspiciously silent and she clutched the ream of purple cloth she had tucked in her tunic. She looked quickly over the counter, glancing around. The room seemed empty, but she knew not to trust what she could see in an place with many hiding spots.

 

Leaping quickly over the counter, she made for the back of the store, where, as she had made sure to check before, there was a door into the back alley. Nori snuck out that way, only to shrink back when a hand grasped her shoulder.

 

“Where do you think you're going, laddie?”

 

Nori froze, the weight of the shopowner’s grip holding her in one place. She let her gaze meet his and smirked, “Away from here,” she replied, ripping herself from his grasp and ducking out of the alley.

 

“Stop!” he yelled, sprinting after her.

 

She swerved around other dwarrows, ducking under arms and through any gaps she could fit between. It should have been easy. But a guard happened to be passing when she tried to cross the street, and hearing the owner's calls, went to catch her.

 

He got an arm in front of her and used it to lift and trap her. Unable to move without injuring the guard, Nori spat at him, trying to wrench his arm out of place. He kept his hold and soon the owner was there to help him get her into handcuffs.

 

She cussed at them as the guard arrested her, and the owner pulled his goods from her coat. “You take anything else?” the owner snapped, and she glared in answer.

 

Deciding to ignore her cursing, the owner thanked the guard and Nori was marched off to the jail. She brooded as they walked, still attempting to throw the guard off so she could escape. She knew that if she could get away, she could pick the lock. Gyer had made sure she practiced that before, just in case.

 

At least she had lockpicks in the lining in her coat, and two carefully braided into her hair. If she was left alone for even a minute in her cell, she could get out. The lock would not be that hard to break and then she could be gone. Mostly, Nori was just disappointed the cloth had been returned, as there was no way she'd be able to easily get it back. It had been Ori's favorite color, one that Dori could not easily afford.

 

She stumbled as the guards pushed her into the cell. “You'll get a sentence tomorrow, thief,” he growled. “For now, you stay here.”

 

Nori glared at his retreating back and investigated the cell. The cell door was thick and heavy but the lock was simple, easy for her to get past. Unfortunately, she was not alone in her cell, and she could hear the guards patrolling the jail, in what seemed to be a fairly regular and quick pattern.

 

The other prisoner noticed her inspection. “You're not going to get out of here, not now,” they told her, stretching out on one of the hard beds. “Try your luck later, when they get tired and pay less attention.”

 

“Speaking from experience?” Nori retorted, dropping on the other bed when it appeared she would have to wait anyway as another guard turned the corner down the hallway.

 

They shrugged, folding their arms behind their head. “Just be glad they didn't strip search you. Did that to me last time, after I got out once. Right unpleasant that is.”

 

Nori snorted, but couldn’t help but feel glad that she hadn't been searched. She didn't think she would have reacted well to that. Glancing at her cellmate, she rolled her eyes when they started snoring. No wonder they had been caught, if they were that easily distracted.

 

She kept up a watch, listening and guessing to how long it was between guard rounds. Picking at a hole in her sleeve, Nori tried to calculate how long it would take her to open the lock, slip past the guards and out the door. Too long, she thought, when considering the small size of the building, the amount of guards, and the regularity of the rounds.

 

Recalling the boasting stories of the other small times thieves around the tables back at Hogshead bar, she tried to remember the facts of their stories and if there was anything she could use to help herself now. Without noticing, she slipped into a light slumber, lulled into it by uninteresting thoughts and the snores of her cellmate.

 

Jolting awake a few hours later, she realized the noise that had woken her was the clashing of metal on metal and loud yelling. Standing up quickly, she saw out the corner of her eye that her cellmate had also reacted and stood up to join her at the bars.

 

“What's going on?” they yelled down the corridor.

 

A guard ran over, armored heavily and with her weapon covered in black blood. “Surprise orc attack. They snuck in, and might already be farther into the other towns closer to the Mountain.” She looked the prisoners up and down, evaluating them. “If I let you go, will you fight?”

 

They both nodded without looking at each other, and the guard unlocked the door before pointing out the room where their things had been stowed. Nori ran for it, grabbing her things and tucking everything but two long daggers back into the pockets they had been in.

 

She swallowed hard as she spun the daggers, afraid at what she would be doing in a few minutes. Then, a glance exchanged between her and the other dwarrow, they made for the entrance. Outside, it was chaos. The orcs had spread out, entering buildings and attacking everyone in sight, and the dwarrows of the town were only slowly pushing them back.

 

Nori stepped into battle. She felt her thoughts flee out the window, the only thing that was needed was action. Muscles moved in automatic memory of lessons taken with Gyer. Her mind went blank of any other activity. Instead she focused in on the fight alone.

 

Every sound around her was cataloged, and there were a few times she only avoided injury because the crunch of footsteps behind had made her duck. Other times she caught an attacker before they went to harm her because she saw their movement out of the corner of her eye.

 

She had expected her heart beat to pick up, but instead it slowed until she could barely feel it. Or perhaps that had just been the exhaustion talking. Either way the battle was long and slow, and she knew that quite a few dwarrows had fallen under the onslaught.

 

Nearing the end, she found herself free of orcs to kill, standing out in the middle of a street that should have been bustling and full. Now, no one was out, though she thought there might be young ones in a few of the homes lining the street. Glancing down at herself, she grimaced at the mess she made. Orc blood stained the front of her tunic and down her sleeves. Slitting the throat sprayed blood in large quantities, she had found out, and it had gotten everywhere.

 

Looking at her knifes, Nori saw how the blood was thick on the blade. Orc blood was black, but in her mind, she could see what the dagger would look like with red running down the blade. She nearly dropped her knives, stepping back abruptly as she saw the blood run down the knife and drip onto her shirt and her whole front stained red with it.

 

Then she blinked and it was gone, and she knew that her vision, brought on by battle weariness as it was, was more than just a figment of her imagination, but also a memory. The thought left a bitter taste on her tongue and a blankness in her mind, and she shook her head in irritation at herself. To kill in self defense was no crime, especially not when the enemy was an orc. Centering herself, Nori investigated in the goings of the battle.

 

As soon as the town was mostly clear, she was gone. Nori felt no need to linger there, especially when the orcs had likely spread, had likely reached the only large city nearby. She left some of her things behind and made for home.

 

\- - -

 

By the time she got to the city, it was obvious she had not been the only one who had been past. There was a solemn quiet about the place, and the guards watching the main street eyed her with an look that was not nearly as searching as she was used to. They were not watching for thieves this day, but for orcs.

 

Doing her best to get home as quickly as possible, carefully avoiding looking at the stains on the walls and roads, ignoring the smell of burning orc that had followed her all the way there. Nori found herself praying that she was not too late.

 

Nori reached the door, and there wasn't even a pause before it was flung wide open and two sets of hands dragged her in. She felt Ori clutch her waist as Dori pressed her forehead to his. Ori's breath caught in their throat, hitching slightly as she held her, and she felt her own breathing quicken in response. She wasn't sure how they stood like that, but none of them was entirely willing to let the others go.

 

When they finally separated, Dori, red eyed, shooed them all into the main room to huddle around the fire. He grabbed Nori's knifes and brought them to the kitchen to be cleaned, and she followed him with her eyes. A bandage on his arm made it obvious that he had been a part of the fighting, as most of the population of the city had been.

 

A hand tugged on her sleeve, and she glanced back down at Ori. “Nori,” she asked, “did you bring me anything?”

 

“Ah, sorry. I had some cloth but I'm afraid I lost it.”

 

Ori's little face dropped for a second, then they brightened. “Well, you're here,” they said, reaching over to her for another, less intense, hug. “And that's good too.”

 

“Only good?” Nori teased, “I feel unloved!” Dramatically clutching her heart, she pulled Ori down with her until they fell onto the floor in a heap.

 

Ori giggled, squealing and kicking when Nori tickled their sides. “Nori!” they laughed, drawing out the vowel and pushing at their big sister. Nori did not let go, digging her fingers harder into their ticklish spots until they could not breathe for laughing.

 

Dori ducked into the room and shook his head at them, but there was a hint of a smile on his lips that had Nori grabbing his leg and dragging him to down to join them. He grumbled, and tapped the back of her head, but smiled wider when Ori buried their face in his beard.

 

\- - -

 

The next week, there were all sorts of whispers and rumors about the death and injury of the battle. Some claimed that they had saw a dwarrow get hit the forehead with an orc axe and keep going. Others said that they had collapsed, but were still alive, even with the injury. There was other talk, of dwarrows who died fighting dozens of orcs at once, or who survived while separated and alone. The events of that week overshadowed any other news that might have been the talk of the town before.

 

One topic of conservation that was prevalent but kept low and respectful was the death of Víli, father of Fíli and Kíli. It was said he fell in the frontlines of the battle, even though he had had little experience in warfare. Dís was apparently distraught, her children spending their days with their Uncle and cousins instead of at home.

 

Dori was worried about the princess, and spent several nights debating over whether to try to see her or not. Nori rolled her eyes at him, leaning on the table. “Just go,” she grumbled, “All this worrying isn't doing shit.”

 

“Nori, language!” Dori snapped, looking reprovingly between her and Ori.

 

Nori shrugged, “They've heard most of it before.”

 

Dori glared harder, giving a glance to Ori, who carried on scribbling something in their journal Nori had brought them when she returned from her first trip. They didn't even acknowledge their siblings' squabbling, and Dori huffed before turning back to Nori.

 

“Fine,” he said. “I'll go see Dís, but it'll have to be tomorrow, and you better be here to watch Ori while I'm gone.”

 

“Ori's halfway to of age,” Nori said. “They can surely stand to be alone for an afternoon.”

 

“It's not them I'm worried about,” Dori replied sharply.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Psst! I tried to make it v obvious so I hope y'all noticed the mention of another company member. Promise everyone will be around asap.


	10. Findings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh gosh, I'm sorry this took so long. It wasn't the plan I swear but school really drained me. I hope I can get the next chapter out on time but finals are this week so... 
> 
> Anyway, guess who I finally introduced? Bofur! Took me long enough. So now that Bo's a part of this fic, yes this is supposed to be a Bofur/Nori fic. But it's going to be very much pre-relationship so if that's not really your thing, it's mostly just flirting. Well, at least in this fic, but no promises if I expand on this universe. 
> 
> Also, Dwalin's back. Expect a lot more of them now. Which reminds me, after the last chapter with Dwalin in it, I was thinking and decided to have Dwalin use 'they' instead. So I changed some of the stuff from the earlier chapters, if you didn't notice already. 
> 
> Hmm, I think that's it. This chapter is pretty much just fluff, but that's what 90% of my writing is. So whatever.

Nori lounged on the sticky surface of a bar table, puffing nonchalantly on her pipe as she watched the other patrons. She followed their movements with her eyes, and determined carefully that there would be no one here that she would steal from. They all had little for her to take, and besides, she liked the feel of this place. Best not to spoil it by messing with the regulars.

 

Settling back, she enjoyed the atmosphere. Nursing a mug of ale that she would likely not finish even by the end of this night, she relaxed infinitesimally. Nori felt blissfully ignored, able to sit alone in the back of the room without eyes on her every. Everyone else was also focusing solely on their mugs, and for once, the only gaze that searched the room was hers.

 

She laughed a bit at herself. She was growing too used to the thieves' bar, where trust was a word none of them knew the definition of and gossip was a way of life. Here, in this bar for workers and miners, there was no reason or care to know everything about everyone else, and so she was left alone.

 

Still, her eyes flickered to the door when it opened again, and a new dwarrow walked in. They wore a strange hat with floppy sides, braids sticking from under it, and Nori smirked at its ridiculousness. They seemed familiar with the bar, going straight to the counter and leaning back on it as they scanned the room.

 

Nori saw a playful smile creep up their face as they took in the other patrons. She wasn't sure what she expected of them, but for them to climb onto a nearby table and pull out a flute was not it. They played a cheerful tune, and there was a little moment of quiet confusion until the others in the bar recognized the tune.

 

Once one person had begun to hum along, it was not long before more were singing in low tones. A few others pulled out their own instruments, and joined in. Nori sat back and watched the atmosphere of the bar shift. Dwarrows who had before sat as far from one another as possible and had done nothing more than watch their own drinks now focused on the music and got up to move closer.

 

The dwarrow who had started it all smiled openly at the group, encouraging everyone to be a part of the music. They swept their gaze across the room, gesturing at people like Nori who were still sitting to sing or dance. Luring several more people to come up, they had captivated nearly everyone in the bar.

 

The music was fun and lively, and the songs were ones that any dwarrow who had ever spent time in a bar would know. The dwarrow had stopped playing their flute, but now sang loudly, in a cheerful voice that while not flawless, was pleasant to listen to. They added a bawdy tune to the mix, winking at the anyone who laughed.

 

Letting the crowd sing the next verse, their eyes met Nori's. They seemed to pause, watching her instead of joining in the music. It lasted only a second, and then they were pulled back into the swing of the party they had started, another dwarrow starting a jig in the middle of the bar floor.

 

They managed to get through a few dances before the owner came running out from the back room, shooing them off the tables and glaring at the dwarrow that had started it. Yet, there was no further backlash, no yelling or banning of anyone, just irritated looks and lecturing about proper behavior. Nori was a little intrigued, as she had never seen an business owner so relaxed and willing to let things slide.

 

As the other dwarrows returned to their seats, the mood did not lose its new active and brightness. The behatted dwarrow was swept off to join a newly formed group of workers, their loud laughter frequently cutting through the soft noise of low chatter. Others stayed in pairs and talked instead of sitting alone and isolating themselves with their drinks. Nori left quietly, slipping out as unnoticed as she had been during this whole scene.

 

\- - -

 

Opening the front door and walking quietly into their house, Nori grinned at Ori who had perked up as soon as she came in. Stepping quietly into the room, she sat down next to her sibling and glanced towards the kitchen, where she could hear Dori bustling around.

 

It was likely he was making something for Fíli and Kíli. Dori had spent much time in the royal family's company in the past months, since he had managed to help her brother and children coax Dís out of her grief. Her lose had hurt her greatly, but the dwarrowdam did not often show it. Dori did his best to help her out, keeping an eye on her children when she needed someone to do it.

 

Ori had lost their playmates lately, as they were passed around between different adults while Dís recovered. The younger kids had only recently started having true lessons, and for all that Ori wasn't much older than Fíli and Kíli, they were much farther ahead in learning. Focusing on their own work, the three had only spent a few days together in the past months. Meanwhile, the other two had been forced to watch their younger cousin, Gimli, whose father Glóin also knew the princess well.

 

Reaching a hand out, she dropped some sweets into Ori's lap, who looked between her and the candies before tucking them carefully into their own pockets. Nori winked at them, and responded gently when Ori gave her a quick hug before returning to their drawings, their homework for the night already tucked into a their bag to be taken to Master Balin the next day.

 

\- - -

 

Nori sat in the Hoghead's bar, across from another small time thief, Fior, who was an expert knife thrower. When a heavy weight settled next to and behind her, she stiffened immediately, prepared to fling the arm of the dwarrow who had sat down away in a moment's notice. Fior's eyes widened and he made a small noise in the back of his throat. Slowly, he got up, and shifted down a table, away from them and Nori could only assume the dwarrow had given him a look to prompt it.

 

A long pause passed before the new arrival said anything, and she would have done something about it, had she not smelled the thick scent of expensive spices. She greeted the newcomer casually, her tone of voice a direct contrast to the continued stiffness of her shoulders under his arm, “Hello Durek.”

 

She could hear the smile in his voice as he drew back, his presence still forceful, but now out of her space. “And how is my favorite petty thief today?”

 

“Depends on why you’re asking.”

 

“Listen,” he said, leaning forward. “I've got proposal for you.”

 

“What kind of proposal?” Despite her annoyance at his interruption, Nori grew interested. Durek didn't just hand out offers to anyone anytime. She tried to hide her intrigue, knowing he would attempt to augment it, but his black eyes seemed to catch everything.

 

“I got a job that needs doing. But I don't think I'd trust most of these idiots, and they couldn't do it anyway. I need someone small, and fast.”

 

“And I'm so trustworthy?” Nori asked, raising a braided eyebrow.

 

He didn't respond to her question, and said instead, “Lord Suth, one of the old lord's sons, you know him?”

 

“I've heard of him.”

 

“He's a rich coward, and he promised me something then refused to deliver. It'd be easy to take it, except he keeps his house locked up tight.”

 

“So you need someone who can slip past his defenses,” Nori said, already beginning to evaluate the difficulty of the job in her head.

 

“Exactly,” Durek smiled, a persuasive, charming smile that lured you in. Nori knew that the end of the road that that smile led you down was no happy ending, but it was better than nothing.

 

“I'll think about it,” Nori acquiesced, and by the way Durek's grin grew, he too knew that he had won.

 

Standing up and stretching, the older dwarrow handed her a small envelope, his brown hand startling dark against her own pale skin. “You might want this,” he told her, before sauntering off to his normal corner.

 

Opening the envelope and unfolding the paper, she wasn't surprised to find directions to the lord's house and a description of the wanted item. Nori tucked it into her pocket, and decided she would go to check it out when she left today.

 

When another body slid onto the bench next to her, she knew she would look over to find Gyer watching her solemnly. “I hope you're being careful,” he said quietly. “Durek is not a dwarrow to mess with.”

 

“I know,” she replied simply. She had heard the rumors, and knew they were more than stories told to scare off newcomers. She knew the risks of working with the person who was essentially the head of the underground.

 

But Nori also knew that she needed the money. Everyone had heard that Durek paid anyone who worked for him well. For all that she had tried to get out of the city to find other targets for her thievery in the past months, the trips never were very successful. Perhaps it was because she stayed too close, but after the last time she had traveled a long way, she couldn’t bring herself to go far. She was stuck between wanting to travel far away, and feeling scared of something happening if she traveled too far away. 

 

Geyr looked at her in understanding. “Need any help?” he asked, nodding his head at the paper.

 

She smirked, “I think you're too big and slow, old man.”

 

He rolled his eyes at her, a small smile playing over the lines of his face.

 

\- - -

 

Nori pulled a leg up, bracing herself on the wall opposite her perch. The muscles in her legs complained a bit, but her unmoving position allowed them some rest. Juggling the bag between her hands, she contemplated sneaking a look at whatever it was Durek had had her steal. It felt wrong that she'd gone through all this trouble, when she didn't even know what it was.

 

Hearing quiet voices, she froze, holding her stance tightly. The indistinct sounds rounded themselves out, until she recognized Durek and his little circle of head criminals. It didn't take long for them to fade away into the night, but Nori still did not move. She'd only heard three sets of footsteps walk away after all.

 

Moving up higher, knowing she was more silent than a mouse, she shifted until she could see the top of their head. Recognizing the braids, and the heavy coarseness of the hair, she abandoned subtly and stealth. Nori slid down the side of the roof, stopping herself at the edge, right before she would have fallen on him. His head snapped up, and he grinned brightly at her.

 

“Hello, Nali. Got anything for me?”

 

“What, like this?” Nori asked innocently, dangling the bag in front of him.

 

Durek took it reverently, and pulling the drawstring to grasp out a small box. Opening it and smelling the contents, he sighed deeply, “Bengal.”

 

“What?”

 

Durek sighed again, this time in exasperation. “Bengal pepper. A spice unfortunately only grown in Harad, and rather expensive to ship here.”

 

“You made me sneak into a lord's house for spices?!”

 

Wordlessly, Durek held out a bag of coin, and Nori dropped down from the roof. Taking it, and testing the weight to make sure he'd given her a good amount, she turned to leave. “I don't get it, but thanks.”

 

Durek shook his head at her, carefully knotting the top of the little bag shut, and placing it in one of his deep pockets. She glanced back as she walked away to see him turn to the shadows of the alleyways and move out of the light.

 

\- - -

 

The first time she'd been caught by Dwalin, Nori had spent the entire walk to the jail glaring at her traitorous feet. She'd missed a step as she had jumped onto a roof to get away, and in her fall they had grabbed a hold of her arm. Dwalin had kept her from falling and hurting herself, but they had also clapped her in handcuffs as soon as she was on her feet.

 

Now she was being marched forward, and she entertained herself by attempting to trip them up. She already been jerked around for doing it once, but she still hoped that distracting the guard would allow her to get away.

 

When she nearly got a foot under theirs for the second time, Dwalin grabbed the front of her shirt. “Stop it, thief, or I'll be forced to hurt you.”

 

“I'm so worried,” Nori replied sarcastically.

 

Dwalin glared, “I wouldn't get in trouble.”

 

“Maybe not, but you're just a big softie, aren't you?” Nori said, smirking.

 

Their grip tightened. “Watch it,” they said, other hand moving to the handle of their ax. “Or I'll shut you up myself.”

 

Nori gave up at irritating them, and did not attempt to antagonize Dwalin further. She didn't really feel up to it. There were more important things to worry about, like whether she could get herself out of this situation or not. When she was left her cell, she poked around it, hoping to find an easy way out.

 

The jailer had found the most obvious set of lockpicks in her coat, but had not bothered to search her farther and she knew she still had another set to use to open the door. Perching on the old hard bed in the corner of the small cell, she waited.

 

It was the middle of the night before she heard the guards settle down. She'd pretended to be asleep when the last one had passed on the last round of the day and she knew that they thought all the prisoners out of it. Pulling the lockpicks out from the lining of her undershirt, she made quick work of the lock, pausing whenever it seemed anyone might notice the slight noises.

 

Opening the door, she wince at the squeaks the rusty metal produced. When no one appeared to hear the creaks, she fled, stopping only to grab her confiscated knives. She grimaced, knowing Dori would be angry with her for being out for most of the night. One would think he would be used to it by now, but he still got upset when she missed dinner.

 

\- - -

 

Nori stomped out of the house, muttering curses about nagging older brothers under her breath. Dori had refused to let up since he had discovered she'd been arrested a week ago. He'd complained endlessly about how she was 'bringing dishonor to their family', 'liable to corrupt Ori' and all sorts of other shit. She was fed up.

 

Going down a side street, Nori froze and looked around as she realized she had walking without paying attention to her surroundings. Her immediate reaction was head to the Hoghead's and drink, but there she would likely be drawn into Durek's circle, as the head of the underground had grown fond of her since she had completed that job for him.

 

She'd much rather talk with Gyer. He had a way of giving her the exact advice she needed without her ever telling him the problem she was facing. But there was no guarantee he would be in any of his usual hideout. Even worse, she had to be careful where she went in the city. Dwalin's discovery of her escape had set the guard on a path to take her down and she'd found herself being spotted by guards more often than not lately, which hadn't helped her case against Dori.

 

While it could be fun to let them chase her around for a bit, she found that having to duck and run every time she went outside was getting irritating. Well, since going to pick a few pockets to relieve stress was out, so she might as well go to another bar. There was that one she'd been to a while ago, she'd liked that one.

 

It was better than hiding in alleyways anyway.

 

The bar was not as empty as it had been last time, and she couldn't help but skim the tops of the head of the patrons, searching for a unique hat. The dwarrow who had worn it had been fascinating, in a strange sort of way, and Nori wanted to know what sort of person sings and dances on a table in the middle of a bar, with only one drink under their belt.

 

She didn't see a familiar hat, and felt a small flicker of disappointment before shrugging it off. Nori had come here to drink, hadn't she? No one reacted when she sat down at the bar, and she reveled just a little in the freedom of being able to ignore the people around her.

 

Her drink was nothing special, an ale she spent more time staring into than drinking. She began to wonder if it had been long enough that Dori would not bother her when she came home, when a body dropped into the seat next to her. Glancing over, she saw the behatted dwarrow smile at her from their seat.

 

“Hullo! Haven't seen you around here,” they said, tilting their head at her curiously.

 

“This is my second time here,” Nori replied honestly.

 

She received an even brighter grin at that, “Well, then it's my pleasure to welcome you to the place! Bofur, daughter of Barur.” The other dwarrowdam stuck out a hand and Nori found herself taking it automatically.

 

Nori paused for what felt like minutes, but was more in the realm of seconds. She did not frequently meet dwarrowdams who exposed themselves as such so quickly. Tempted to respond in kind, Nori found herself almost surprised into honesty. Then her mind caught up with her and she changed her answer quickly.

 

“Nori, child of Zhori.” Not what she had told the other thieves, and not what her siblings knew her as, but closer to the truth. It would work, she not put in her false braids today after all, having planned on staying with her family.

 

Bofur shook her hand vigorously. “I think I saw you around last time.”

 

Nori shrugged, “We didn't talk but you danced on a table, if that jogs your memory.”

 

Another grin. “Unfortunately not,”

 

“Aye,” a voice cut in and Nori looked over her shoulder to see the owner place his hands on his hips. “Gets up on my tables far too often if you ask me. Next time she tries it, I'll make her clean 'em!”

 

“Sorry, Andar,” Bofur laughed, raising her hands in supplication.

 

The owner humphed, and left to serve a table, leaving Nori to raise her eyebrows at Bofur. The implied qeustion was silent, but Bofur laughed brightly.

 

“Just trying to cheer everyone up a bit,” she responded happily, winking at Nori.

 

“Does that work?”

 

“Depends on the place.”

 

Nori felt her lips curl into a small smile, and the conservation drifted on until the bar began to clear out and the owner gave them encouraging looks. Bofur was the first to stand and she led Nori outside. The sky was dark, clouds obscuring the stars and they could barely see each other.

 

“See you again?” Bofur asked, outlined in the bright light from the open doorway of the bar.

 

Nori just shrugged, peeling her eyes away from the dwarrow in front of her and staring into the black of the night instead. Waving a simple goodbye, she left, feeling Bofur's gaze follow her until she was out of sight.

 

 

 


	11. Protection is both a blessing and a pain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that took longer to write than expected. Sorry. I'd give a good excuse but all I got is some writer's block. Although, this chapter is like twice as long as normal, so I'd think that makes up for it. It'll probably be a long wait for the next ch too, because I've kinda had to rethink some things.
> 
> The first bit is pretty much just fluff, so uh yeah. Sorry, not sorry. I had to throw in a time skip in the 3rd section, because, well, 171 years is a long time and I needed to get the plot rolling. After it, Nori's 90, Ori's 58, Dori's 134 and it's like forty years before the quest. (getting closserrrr!) 
> 
> Warnings: There's a couple mentions of implied forced prostitution, which I don't know how that made it's way into this fic but there it is. Look for mentions of Ovan to skip it in the 5th and 9th sections. (If anyone remembers him, I'll give you a cookie or something because he was literally in one paragraph.) Also 7th section has mentions of periods and blood. 
> 
> I hope you guys like OCs and Dwalin cuz that's what you're getting for this chapter and at least the next one too.

Ori squealed, immediately attempting to muffle the noise by stuffing their sleeve into their mouth. Fíli's hand around their wrist had been unexpected, and the other dwarfling gave them an unimpressed look at the failure to keep quiet. Ori shot them a glare back, reprimanding them silently for startling them.

 

Together, they peered around the corner, scanning the hallway for adults. Kíli followed just behind them, attached to Fíli's tunic by one small hand. Finding it clear, they snuck past the open doorways, pausing before each one to check it was empty. Ori felt faint, terrified that they would be caught. Dori would be so mad, and they couldn't even bear to think about what the others would think.

 

Ori wanted to whimper, but knew it it might give them away. Holding it in, they pressed the thick wool of their sweater into their mouth, biting down on the soft fabric to keep from speaking. Fíli looked worried, but held themself determinedly upright. Ori admired the younger dwarrow for a second, wishing they could feel confident too.

 

Instead all they could think about was how this hadn't been their plan for the day, and how they wanted to go home and get away from this mess. They'd planned to stay with Master Balin, who had promised to start teaching them Sindarin soon. Ori felt thrilled to learn the new language and had been disappointed when their lessons had been interrupted by some important meeting with the King.

 

The next thing they knew, Fíli and Kíli had sprinted into the room, and had dragged them along to explore the armory. And then everything had gone wrong.

 

Ori hadn't had any part in the castrophe, they really wanted to let everyone know that. They'd barely stepped foot into the armory, a little afraid of all the sharp, pointy, dangerous weapons. The other two had not been. Kíli had immediately started to mess with a bow, proclaiming loudly about how they were going to be the best archer ever when they got older. Fíli had investigated all the other weapons critically, seeming to be carefully deciding which ones they wanted to learn and which they disliked.

 

Then Kíli had tried to shoot an arrow. Which, instead of hitting the wall, or the target they had aimed for, had bounced off a suit of armor, that had been precariously balanced. Falling over, the heavy armor had knocked down a shelf, which had knocked down the next one over and so on. Kíli had had to be dragged bodily away by Fíli as a war hammer almost toppled on him.

 

Looking at the destruction around them, the dwarflings had done the first thing that came to mind. Run from the scene, and hide from the adults.

 

As they got pulled along by their friends, Ori thought they should have waited while Fíli and Kíli got away. If anyone was the least likely to get in trouble, it was Ori, as they had not even touched anything. Besides that, Dori had always told them that you were supposed to own up to and apologize for your mistakes. Running away was the opposite of that.

 

But Fíli and Kíli were scared. Ori didn't blame them. Their uncle, the King, was stern enough without having something to yell at them for. They would have to face his disappointment, something which Ori knew upset them greatly to deal with. Plus, it wouldn't just be Thorin they would have to deal with, but Balin, Dwalin, and their mother, none of whom Ori would ever want to make angry.

 

Ori hoped the damage hadn't been too bad. Maybe if it was only a little they would only get into some of trouble. For now, they snuck around, hoping to escape the notice of adults until the situation had blown over.

 

“Maybe we should go back to Master Balin's office?” Ori suggested quietly.

 

When the other two both turned to look at them incredulously, they added, “We could tell them we'd been there the whole time.”

 

Fíli thought about it, “They probably already checked there, and would know we were lying. If we go outside, we could say we'd been somewhere else and they might actually believe us.”

 

“We have to make it through the building first though,” protested Ori. “Someone is going to see us before we get outside.”

 

Fíli shook their head obstinately, a movement mirrored by Kíli, who was tugging on their sleeve now. “It's the best way.”

 

They continued on their way, and Ori felt like with every step their heart beat faster in their chest.

 

It was inevitable that Balin caught them trying to sneak out the door.

 

\- - -

 

Dwalin glared down at Fíli and Kíli, who wilted under their gaze. Ori had been transferred over to sit by Balin's desk, who had given the oldest dwarfling some copying to work on while he helped his sibling reprimand the other two. Once they had heard the story of what had happened, Ori had been lightly lectured and told to stay out of it. Dwalin and Balin knew that Dori would give the youngest Ri a hard time anyway.

 

It didn't take long before the two younger dwarflings were whimpering and looked like they were about to burst into tears. Dwalin finally took pity on them, warning them that their lessons would be stricter and their training would get more intense as a punishment. They nodded, eyes still wet and fled to hide from their uncle and mother for as long as possible.

 

Ori watched them go, a little glad that by the time their uncle came to lecture them, Dori would have sped his sibling home. They didn't want to see their friends more upset then they already were, and they knew that Fíli and Kíli worried a lot about disappointing their uncle, which they both certainly had done today.

 

It didn't take long for them to be over the whole incident though, it seemed. Within a week, the youngest of Durin's line were as cheerful as ever. Kíli had been especially excited because Dwalin had promised to find them an archery teacher since they were so interested in it.

 

\- - -

 

Ori sat on the side of the training ground, focusing on the open journal in front of them. They didn't have any copying to do today – Thank Mahal – but they liked having the free time to work on and improve their own little habit, drawing. The scratch of the quill on the paper was a comforting diversion from the dull roar and clang of the training field.

 

Glancing up, Ori saw Fíli getting his – as he preferred he at the moment – getting his ass handed to him by Dwalin. Oh sure, Fíli was still upright, which was an accomplishment in and of itself considering how quickly Dwalin usually took down their opponents, but he was faltering. They watched as he went down, and Dwalin grunted something to him before helping him up and handing him his weapon back.

 

Kíli was on the other side of the small field, practicing their archery as the King watched. They had definitely improved greatly since that first disastrous attempt at firing an arrow. A little less than twenty years, and Kíli was the best shot in the city. That accomplishment was more impressive than it sounded, as there were a few dwarrows that had studied archery for decades and could out-shoot mannish hunters in the all the nearby villages.

 

Ori had honestly expected more bragging from the younger dwarrow, but Kíli had restrained himself, mostly.

 

Eyes flitting back to Fíli, Ori found themself watching not their golden haired friend but his bulky trainer. Dwalin was solid mass and they followed the swell of their arms and the shifting muscles of their exposed back before blushing brightly and looking back at their journal. Their fingers twitched to draw the sight in front of them but they pushed the urge away, knowing Dori would likely look in it, and how would that conservation go?

 

Dori was refusing to even think about the fact that Ori was nearing their coming of age. The idea that Ori might be growing up in other ways would surely give their older brother a heart attack. Shaking their head, and trying to sketch the sword in Fíli's hand instead, Ori tried to forget the thought.

 

\- - -

 

Hurrying down a side street, hoping she'd managed to avoid a guards she'd saw side-eying her, Nori groaned when a hand caught her shoulder and tugged her back.

 

“Nowhere to run, thief,” Dwalin growled at her, grasping her wrist to clap the handcuffs on. She did not try to pull away, knowing that Dwalin could beat her in an arm-wrestling match any day, though if she had inherited her mother's strength like her siblings that would not be so.

 

“Don't count me out so soon, guard,” she replied, grinning she watched the frown grow on their face.

 

Not bothering to respond, they dragged her to the nearest jail, and shoved her into her own cell, adding as they closed the door, “There's a guard posted just down the corner. If you even think about escaping, he'll have your guts.” Dwalin had been chasing her ever she gotten out of jail after they arrested her for the first time. She'd managed to avoid them until now, and it appeared that Dwalin was taking more precautions against her escape this time, not that Nori would let that stop her.

 

“I'm sure I'll find a way around that,” she told them, leaning on the bars and smirking at them.

 

Dwalin looked like they wanted to turn around and walk away, but they paused and faced her instead, folding their broad arms across their chest. “Got any family?”

 

“What?” she replied, blinking in surprise at the sudden change of topic.

 

They rolled their eyes, “For the bail.”

 

Nori relaxed slightly at the response, having stiffened at the idea of Dwalin knowing about her relation to her siblings that they knew only as the lady Dís' friends. “None that I'd tell you about.”

 

They gave her the stink eye, “Aye, as bad as you, I'd bet.”

 

Nori wanted to bristle at the insult, but held herself back. Dwalin didn't know who her siblings were, and so wouldn't know who they had insulted. And hopefully, Dori's and Ori's friendship with the princess and her family wouldn't give her away. Dwalin didn't need to know who she was, or where she lived.

 

Nori only had to wait a few hours before the building was empty enough for her to slip out.

 

\- - -

 

Walking out of the Hoghead's bar, Nori ducked around the nearest corner, immediately reaching for the pocket in her coat that seemed heavier than it had been when she had gone in. Pulling out a thick envelope, she wasn't surprised to find Durek's blocky writing spilling across the front flap.

 

Skimming through the information quickly, she supposed it wouldn't be too hard to travel a city over and catch up with this thief who had dared to swindle Durek. It'd give her a good reason to avoid Dori, for a start.

 

Her irritating older brother had been spending much of his time at home lately trying to regulate her behavior. He'd done his best to keep her at home and out of trouble but Nori was no inexperienced dwarfling with no knowledge of how to sneak around. In only a week, she'd figured out how to escape his clutches, and Dori had no idea where she snuck off to. He'd been trying unsuccessfully to find out since then, but his attempts at following her were pathetic, she lost him easily.

 

The only thing that kept her in the general area, was that Ori always looked so sad when she disappeared for long periods of time. Her little sibling was Nori's weakest spot, and Nori often found she couldn't bring herself to disappoint that little face. Not that Ori was so little anymore, nearly to of age as they were, but they sure knew how to their young looking face and big eyes to their advantage.

 

Still, she spent a lot of time away from home, spending weeks wandering and days out in the city. There were many other petty thieves out on the streets, and Nori found herself frequently whiling away afternoons with them. The many of the others were typically young, as little as she had been when she had started or smaller. She remembered what it had been like to feel alone on the streets, thought she'd always had a home to return, unlike many, and she remembered what it felt like to barely scrape up enough money to even be worth the trouble.

 

She gave them what she could, what her family didn't need and she could go without. They never looked grateful, took the money greedily but she didn't care. She didn't need thanks.

 

No, Nori was just glad to see their faces out and about, not to find a sudden absence in her patrols of the back alleys.

 

Other thieves tended to ignore the young ones, purposefully forgetting that once it was them who wandered the streets, before they made their big break and moved up the ranks of the underground. Nori couldn’t bring herself to forget that.

 

Worst of all was when young dwarrowdams found themselves on the streets. Most dwarrows would think it cowardly to hide their gender, but Nori would rather be a coward than exploited or dead. She couldn’t help but be more protective of the girls who refused to hide, doing her best to keep them out of the way of the bigger fish of the underground, who were known for looser morals and a sinister overconfidence in their ability to not get caught doing something horribly illegal.

 

Nori had found the young thieves fairly easily. The city was only so big after all, and there more time she spent in it, wandering the streets, the more she knew it. She'd noticed the new faces, picked them out as fellow burglars from the way they still moved, just inexperienced enough for her to catch the subtle hints of criminal behavior. It was something you learned, when you spent your time around criminals, because you began to recognize the little things every crook did.

 

Approaching them had been a little harder, but a quick save to keep them from suspicion, or a nod at just the right time to send them off before they got caught was enough to bring them to her. There was Sisda,  Uloin, and Liha, all barely of age. All of them had noticed her helping them out and insinuated themselves into her life.

 

Sisda had come to her with suspicious eyes, but had left with a handshake and a quick grateful smile. Liha, as Nori had later learned was typical behavior for her, had blustered her way right up into Nori's space before trusting her more easily than Nori would ever recommend a fellow con to do. Uloin had been gushingly thankful, offering to do something in return, not to erase a debt, but truly out of thanks. 

 

Nori had known immediately she couldn't let any of these idiots continue out on the streets alone. They would be caught, or somehow taken advantage of within a year, she would have bet on it. Well, except Sisda, who seemed to be the only one with some common sense.

 

After a few months of purposefully running into all of them around the city, Nori managed to get them to start meeting in certain spots, out of the way and private. Liha and Uloin were fast friends, Nori hadn't been surprised. Out of the three, Sisda was the most cautious and it took her the longest to warm up to the rest.

 

Liha had to be the most difficult to watch out for. She had caught the eye of Ovan, one of Durek's main circle and he was not one who could be easily shaken off. He ran a certain type of business, one that sold disreputable services, and not the kind that involved stealing or assassination. Nori refused to let the girl get dragged into that, knowing very well that the dwarrows who joined Ovan came back with lots of money, yes, but most also returned with innumerable bruises and hollowed eyes.

 

Nori had long ago added Ovan's 'business' as another reason on the list of why she shouldn’t trust Durek. If she wrote it out, it would probably be as long as she was tall. But, yet, he paid her well for the jobs she did for him, and he seemed to have a soft spot for her. Scowling at herself, she knew she should not give in and keeping working for him.

 

Nori told herself she wouldn't do it this time. She told herself she wouldn't work for Durek.

 

\- - -

 

Nori leaned on a corner hidden in the bustling market center, pipe lit and eyes wandering. She saw Sisda before she arrived, stride confident and steady, and thick hair braided back into tight little braids that exposed the skin of her head and left a poof of springy curls behind her head. Somehow, Sisda never seemed to catch people’s attention, whether it was a guard or the interest of another young dwarrow. Nori thought it was probably the walk that told everyone she was nothing special and that she was just another person on their way home or to work. No one looked twice at someone with a stride like that.

 

She made her way over to Nori, maneuvering easily through the crowd. “You wanted to talk?” she asked, stopping in front of her.

 

Nori nodded, blowing the smoke from her pipe out through her teeth. “You still want to travel?” She had promised to take the younger dwarrowdams with her on her next trip.

 

Sisda eye's widened, just a little, and she leaned in. “Are you...?”

 

Nori laughed, tapping out her pipe. “I got a job from Durek. It's out of the city, and I can bring you all along so long as you stay out trouble.”

 

“Ulorin and Liha too?”

 

“If they want.”

 

“I'll talk to them.”

 

A nod exchanged and Sisda left, the conversation over as quickly as it had begun. Sisda never was one for long-winded talks.

 

\- - -

 

Liha met Nori on the outskirts of the city with a light pack on one shoulder and Uloin on the other. Uloin's grin was wide, and she appeared to be talking Liha's ear off. Sisda stood on the other side of the two of them, ignoring their chatter in favor of watching their surrounding, guarding her friends. She saw Nori first, and nodded to her before alerting the other two to Nori's presence.

 

Nori gestured for them to follow her as they left the city limits, the path between the cities nearly empty in the late evening. In the morning they would be busy, but that time hopefully they would be far enough away to escape the notice of any returning patrols. Nori at least, was too distinguishable by now, well, her hair style was. Dwalin still had an arrest-on-sight order out on her, not that she had been taken in very often. Still, it was a bother.

 

The room was quiet, and the girls calmed a bit when they realized that most of the trip would be nothing more interesting than walking along an old path. That being said, Uloin was still determinedly singing a walking song after a few hours and Liha kept looking around like she was planning to run off into the wildlands at any time.

 

Most of the trip was nothing special or particularly interesting. The only thing that happened was that Uloin woke up one day and groaned in irritation loud enough for everyone to hear. Liha, on her feet immediately, went to Uloin's side and a little later, both of them blushing hard, they joined Nori and Sisda further up the path.

 

“Is there a river nearby?” Uloin asked quietly, flushed with embarrassment.

 

Nori nodded, and pointing off the path to the right. “It's a little bit of walk.”

 

Uloin looked simultaneously relieved and more upset, “Can we...”

 

Nori put a hand on her shoulder and steered her towards the river before she finished. “Bring your stuff.”

 

Uloin's face was still red when they reached the river. Sisda offered to help wash the soiled bedroll while Liha took the opportunity to strip and jump in the cold water. It wasn't long before Liha had dragged Uloin into the water too, claiming to be helping her to clean her equally bloodied pants.

 

Uloin growled at her friend, and dunked her under the water. Liha popped back up, blond hair stuck to her head and neck as her braids unraveled. Sticking her tongue out, Liha tossed her beard over her shoulder, which fell down to her waist with it's braids undone, and sent a spray of water towards her friend. Sisda ignored them, but gave them black looks when they dared to send a splash of water in her direction.

 

Nori sat back and smoked, not feeling a great need to bathe, not when Dori made her do it more often then not. But before any of the girls got far into cleaning the blood out of the sheets, Nori tossed a bar of good, hard soap at Sisda, who caught it easily.

 

When she shot her a confused glance, Nori said, “It'll help get the blood out. Don't use all of it, mind, but it shouldn't be too hard to get some more.”

 

She felt eyes on her and rolled her own as she leant back against the solid weight of an nearby boulder, rolled down from the mountain top. “Do I want to know why you have this?” Liha asked, hand on one generously curvy hip.

 

“For the same reason Uloin and either of the two others of you might have need it for.”

 

There was a long silence, then Sisda said calmly, “You didn't put in your gender identifying braid this morning either.”

 

“No,” Nori said easily, “I didn't.”

 

“You never said you got bleedings!” Uloin said accusingly.

 

“You didn't ask,” Nori replied, raising an eyebrow and staring the younger dwarrowdam down.

 

Liha cut in, before Uloin could get annoyed, “Thank you.”

 

“I can get more soap,” Nori repeated, but knew as she looked Liha in the eye that that wasn't what Liha had meant. She gave a slight tilt of her head, the smallest nod, as Liha watched her, then the golden haired dwarrowdam turned back to Uloin and drenched her with a huge splash.

 

Uloin came back up, sputtering and chased the other girl around the river, laughter echoing through the area as Nori closed her eyes and thought about napping while she waited.

 

\- - -

 

Nori ducked behind a stall that looked empty, heart pounding, excited grin plastered over her face. She was far enough ahead of the guards that she'd have a minute to rest before they caught up with her. She sunk to the ground, breathing out a long sigh. Spinning around to face the wall of the building behind the stall, she wondered why no one was here if the stall was still up.

 

Nori savored her rest, hoping the girls had gotten back to the inn okay. She had distracted the dwarrow that had caught them sneaking out of the store's back room and sent the guard on a wild chase through the streets, taunting him so that he would go for her and not the others.

 

She was not so lucky as to escape completely from notice however. Hearing footsteps approach the stall, she sat up and crouched in a ready position, pressing a hand to the back of the front panel of the stall, to help her push out from under the stall and make a break for it.

 

Then a voice stopped her, “Nori?”

 

She recognized the light, cheerful tone immediately, even when paired with no small amount of confusion and uncertainty.

 

“Hello Bo',” Nori replied, settling back down to sit under the stall.

 

“What're you doing down there?”

 

“This yours?” Nori deflected, gesturing to the wood around her.

 

Bofur blinked and answered automatically, “Ah no, borrowing it for a bit until we move on to the next place. My cousin got a deal with the owner of this inn, and he lets us use it when we're around.”

 

Nori nodded, noting the boxes of toys in Bofur's hands. “Ignore me,” she said simply, “I didn't mean to get in your way.”

 

Bofur, recovering a little form her surprise, dropped her boxes next to the stall. “Where have you been?” she added, “I haven't seen you around the bar in more than a year.”

 

“Around,” Nori said vaguely.

 

If she was disappointed by the lackluster reply, Bofur didn't look it and had just opened her mouth to say something else when the clatter of heavy footsteps sounded just down the corner. Nori glanced around the stall, noting the guard had come looking for her. He looked angry, and was stopping everyone in the street to ask them if they had seen her.

 

Nori swore under her breath and ducked back under the stall, pressing her finger to her lips and giving Bofur a pleading glance. After glancing between her and the guard, Bofur moved to open the boxes and begin setting up her stall.

 

When the guard practically growled at her, Bofur only replied sweetly, “I just got outside, so I haven't seen anyone like that.”

 

The guard muttered angrily to himself, “Someone's seen that damned thief.”

 

Once he'd wandered away, Nori looked around carefully before standing up, smirking at Bofur. “Thanks Bofur.”

 

Bofur shook her head, braids swinging under her ridiculous hat. “You staying?” she asked, sounding hopeful.

 

“No, I have to meet up with someone and then we're out of here.”

 

Bofur sighed, and held a hand out to shake hers. “I'll be back home in a couple weeks. You gonna be there?”

 

Nori took her hand, smiling slightly. “I'll try to make it. See you around, Bo'.”

 

\- - -

 

Dwalin had managed to drag in Nori at last. She expected to be immediately thrown in a cell but instead Dwalin lead her to a back room. Her muscles tensed and as they shoved her down into a chair, she was afraid for a long second that they'd finally snapped and would hurt her.

 

However no sooner had she sat, then Dwalin was siting too, across from her and glaring. After a minute of slowly dissolving panic, Nori raised an eyebrow, “Not going to lock me up, guard?”

Dwalin bared their teeth, then grimaced and rubbed the top of their head. “I... need your help.”

 

“You? Need my help?” Nori asked, incredulous.

 

“Yes!” Dwalin snapped. Then they seemed to relax themself slowly, rolling their shoulders to release their tension and pulling out a small piece of paper from their pocket. “You know this symbol.”

 

It wasn't really a question but Nori leaned over to look at it, pulling it closer with the tips of the fingers of her handcuffed hands. She recognized it immediately, the symbol that Ovan made all those 'under his care' wear. “Yeah,” she said quietly, “I know it.”

 

Dwalin reached out to take the paper back. “We found it on a body a week ago. Tortured to death.”

 

Nori winced. She'd heard that Ovan was worse than Durek at tolerating dissenters but the rumors, like many about the inner circle, were only whispers because anything more was an invitation for a beating, or worse.

 

The rumors about Ovan were even harder to catch, and Nori's suspicions of him had been built off of what she had seen of the people who worked for him. The problem was that everyone liked Ovan, even if they didn't trust him. He was the sort of person who made everyone fell welcome, until he slit your throat for disagreeing with him.

 

What made it worse was that he was pretty and influential. Ovan had gotten many a dwarrow off his back by promising the services of one of his loveliest 'employees', and this was enough to stop many for perusing investigations of him. For dwarrows a little higher up the food chain, Ovan might even offer his own services, but Nori wondered how many came back from that experience alive.

 

Focusing back on Dwalin, Nori asked, “Trying to take down Ovan?”

 

Dwalin grunted an assertion and she laughed bitterly, “Good luck with that. He'll eat you alive.”

 

They narrowed their eyes and leaned forward, “Don't need luck when we have someone on the inside.”

 

Nori blinked, “Me? That ain't a good idea, guard.”

 

“You think I like the idea, thief?” Dwalin grumbled. “We need an insider to tell us Ovan's weak spots. I know you're close to the leader of your little group. I don't trust you, but I get the feeling you don't like Ovan either.”

 

“Maybe not,” Nori conceded, “But I'm not much use to you. I might be close to the boss, but Ovan has no love for me.”

 

“You're better than what we got.”

 

Nori sat back, mulling it over. If she messed up, if anyone found out, she'd be dead. But if she didn't help them... She thought of Liha and her golden hair and green eyes and the way Ovan and his minions had followed her around for weeks. She thought of the dwarrowdams, and dwarrows, she'd seen with dull eyes and tired, beaten bodies.

 

She had an answer.

 

“I guess I could help you, guard. Don't expect to much.”

 

“Wasn't going to,” Dwalin grunted.

 

Nori tilted her head, a smirk spreading across her face, “Does this mean you drop the arrest order?”

 

“Don't push it, thief,” Dwalin said, coming forward to unlock the handcuffs. Their eyes caught Nori's and she froze under the heavy pressure of their gaze. “If you cut out on us, thief – ”

 

“I get it, I get it,” Nori interrupted. “Threats of terrible pain and more. Understood.” She stood, and brushed off her coat, “Am I free to go?”

 

Dwalin frowned but stepped back and away from the door. “Meet with me before the week is out,” they ordered, and she waved a hand in reply as she left. Nori stepped out, and when no one stopped her, she grinned and walked out with her head held high and enjoyed the glares of the guards she'd escaped from before.

 

 


	12. Planning for change

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How long has it been since I updated? Idk but I finally got this written so... And lucky you guys, I actually wrote like 6k but it didn't fit well as all one chapter, so give me a couple days to edit and I'll post another chapter. 
> 
> This chapter starts directly after the last. It's not all Nori's POV (I've been calling it the 'everybody is worried about Nori chapter', if that gives you any idea what's going on). I'm just warning you now, this isn't really an action-y type story. Nori might be working to take down Ovan, but she's not going around beating ppl to do it. That just isn't what I'm writing. I hope nobody is disappointed, but considering you've read this far, you're probably not. '
> 
> Just a reminder that Nori told Gyer, Liha, Uloin and Sisda her name was Nali. (And Dwalin too)

Dwalin glared as Nori dropped into the seat in the back room of the guardhouse. “You're late,” they accused.

 

“You didn't give me a certain time to be here,” she snapped, with less heat than she might have a week ago.

 

“Did you find anything?”

 

Nori whistled, “Woah, slow down. I just got here.”

 

Dwalin glared harder.

 

“All right, yes,” Nori said. “I've been poking around. But I hope you realize I can't push too hard or it'll be me you'll be finding dead on the streets.”

 

Dwalin sighed, pinching the bridge of their nose between two thick fingers. “Just tell me what you heard.”

 

Nori shrugged, “Not much. Ovan's fucking pissed that whatever lackeys disposed of that body didn't remove any identifying marks. He likely had them beaten, or killed, depending on his mood.”

 

“That is not helpful, thief.”

 

“I talked to a few of his people. Ovan doesn't trust any of them, but he does think he controls them.”

 

“And how does that help us?”

 

Nori looked Dwalin in the eye, “That means he doesn't think they have to power to hurt him. He's prideful, and sure of himself. Power hungry too.”

 

“That doesn't give us a plan either."

 

“It doesn't give you a plan,” Nori said simply, eyes glinting. “But it gives me an idea on how to get more information.”

 

“What are you going to do?” Dwalin asked, a mixture of worry and anticipation coloring their tone.

 

\- - -

 

Liha kicked the wall of her and Uloin's run down place, which had enough room for a bed and a table and practically nothing else. “Wasn't Nali supposed to be here a hour ago?”

 

Sisda nodded, “Something's happened.”

 

Uloin, sitting on the lone bed, looked up from mending a hole in her pants, “Like what?”

 

Sisda shrugged, “How would I know?”

 

“I bet they've got caught,” Liha proclaimed. “We won't see them for days, I'm sure of it.”

 

“Stop being such a downer,” Uloin said, brows drawing together. “We don't that anything is wrong. Nali could have just been distracted by something.”

 

“Arrested,” Liha insisted. “Dwalin got 'em.”

 

Sisda opened her mouth to say something, then a knock sounded at the door. Liha flung it open, exclaiming “Nali!'” before it was halfway open and dragging the older dwarrow into the room.

 

As they both stumbled into the room, it took a moment before the other two noticed Nali's strange attire.

 

The older thief was wearing skirts, and a tunic much lower cut then anything the others had ever seen them wear. Their hair lacked its usual rounded spikes, and the others were a little shocked at the difference it made. Nali looked like a completely alien dwarrow and it took a minute to register that it was in fact, them.

 

“What happened to you?” Uloin asked, shocked into bluntness.

 

“Trying out a new look,” Nali said, shrugging. “What do you think?”

 

Sisda watched her with careful eyes, “I didn't recognize you at first.”

 

“You're late,” Liha prodded, both verbally and physically, poking Nali in the side.

 

“Dwalin wanted to talk,” Nali said, looking unconcerned.

 

“Talk?” the others echoed together.

 

“You mean beat you up?” Liha asked, “'Cause you don't exactly look it.”

 

“No,” Nali replied, “Nothing like that, they just wanted to yell at me again.”

 

“You're worse than Liha,” Uloin chided. “At least she's afraid of that guard.”

 

“Am not!”

 

“Are too!”

 

As their bickering started up again, Sisda met Nali's eyes. She tilted her head, asking silently if Nali was telling the truth. Nali winked, and Sisda knew that was not a yes, but it was also not a no. She decided to keep an eye on their strange mentor. If Nali could spend her time watching out for them, the least she could do was return the favor every once in a while.

 

Like Sisda, Nali had learned to wait until the quibble died down a little. Once it had she coughed to get their attention. “Can I ask a favor?”

 

“Always!” Uloin answered brightly.

 

“I was just hopoing I could use your place as a base for a couple weeks. I need to store a couple things somewhere out of the way.”

 

Liha looked around the messy one room home, and then back up at Nali, grinning. “If you can find a spot to stash it.”

 

Sisda grimaced at the reminder of the state of the room, things flung everywhere and then hardly ever picked up. A drastic opposite to her own neat room in another building a few streets over. Nali didn't seem to care, just thanked the two and saying she'd be back at some point in the next two days.

 

\- - -

 

No one noticed when Nori's appearances at the Hoghead's slowed down to a trickle instead her usual every few days. Well, most didn't. Nori wouldn't put it past Durek and Gyer to pay enough attention to her to discover the lack, but most never even thought to look for her. Ovan definitely wasn't giving her a single thought.

 

No, he was too focused on his own plots to gain power to care about a little thief that Durek had shown a preference for. Thankfully that also meant he knew almost nothing about her, and she was willing to use that fact to her advantage.

 

She'd been a little surprised at how easy it was to hide in plain sight while completing this investigation. She knew that people identified each other using typical appearances, but it was interesting to find out at what scale. Without her usual hairstyle, and normal outfits, she could wander the streets unchallenged. It was a startlingly freeing experience, for all that she felt wrong in skirts, and too exposed without her normally braids and loose clothes to hide her status as a bearer. 

 

Ovan's supposed secure group was ridiculously easy to infiltrate. None of them were expecting a sneak. Nori used what she had inherited of her mother's looks to slip in without a problem. Although she lacked the curves of a proper dwarrowdam beauty, with a little swing in her hips, no one there cared.

 

Ovan didn't recruit every dwarrow in his business himself. He did come in and talk to her, but she kept her head and played submissive and he left as quickly as he had come in. For the rest of the time, she never saw him except for glimpses.

 

As a new recruit, she wasn't expected to do much yet, mainly cleaning so far. Nori found herself thanking Mahal even as she scrubbed the floors of the the entire building. She didn't want to end up as one of Ovan's favorite lackeys, who had almost no choice in what they did with their own bodies.

 

True she was no prude, had urges and had acted on them before, but by her own choice. She had decided to what to do with her body, and fucked no one who would expect more from her than she did from them. They had been like her, feeling urges but with no desire, at least at that moment, to search out a courtship to solve them. There were plenty of other dwarrows who did that, but yet it seemed there were some who could not get their fill that way, and those were the few who came to Ovan.

 

They were not the kind of dwarrows she would ever want to be around. She hoped this investigation, or whatever it was, ended sooner rather than later.

 

\- - -

 

Nori made sure not to avoid the thieves bar completely. She knew dropping off the map completely would be a little suspicious. Her trips there were much frequent than usual, but enough to keep the others off her back for not showing up.

 

Two weeks after she had started this stupid undertaking, Gyer asked to speak with her. Not in so many words, but with a little nod and twist of his head that she recognized immediately as a request for a talk. She wasn't surprised he asked, honestly she had been expecting him to ask for days. He wasn't one to leave her on her own if he thought something was up.

 

Meeting in one of Gyer's typical hiding spots, a little run down one room place on the outskirts of the city. He looked her up and down when she came in and by his frown she knew he had noticed that something was off.

 

Nori may have been wearing her normal outfits today, but the effects of long days of hard cleaning work were catching up to her. Her knees were sore from kneeling on the ground and her hands red from scrubbing. He met her eyes, raising an eyebrow.

 

When she didn't say anything, he sighed and stepped back. “What are you up to Nali?”

 

“Nothing you need to get involved in, old man,” Nori replied, glancing at the growing streaks of gray in Gyer's dark hair. Not that he had gotten less proficient as he aged, but Nori figured the smaller number of people who knew, the better. Yes, the best number of people who knew anything about this idiotic plan was one, her.

 

Still, Gyer was no simpleton, and he knew something was up. She supposed she only had a few days before he caught on to part of her plan.

 

\- - -

 

Sisda frowned at the doorway. Liha and Uloin were supposed to be there an hour ago. If it had only been a half hour, she wouldn't have worried, but at this point, something had to have happened.

 

She could go to their place, but if they weren't here it was unlikely they were there instead. She thought she would give them another half an hour before she went to look for them.

 

Of course that was when the door burst open and the two sprinted into her room. She braced herself for the inevitable when they launched themselves at her bed. Huffing and falling over as Uloin's arm slapped her across the chest, then pushing them off her and sitting up straight once more.

 

“Where have you two been?”

 

Liha rolled over to lay on her side, “We followed Nali.”

 

Sisda's eyebrows came together in confusion. “Why?”

 

“We wanted to know why they looked so different last time we saw them,” Liha answered blithely. 

 

“Plus, we walked past them on our way here and they didn't even say hi!” Uloin sounded rather indignant at this.

 

“Yeah,” Liha continued the story, “so we followed them. They didn't even notice.”

 

Sisda doubted that but let the two idiots keep telling their story.

 

“They went to Ovan's!” Uloin exclaimed, unable to wait to share this tidbit. “Still dressed all weird too. I think they weren't telling us something when they came by before.”

 

“They definitely weren't,” Sisda muttered to herself, thinking of the look she had shared with the older dwarrow.

 

“Should we look through the stuff they left at our place?” Uloin wondered.

 

Sisda cautioned her, “That's not a good idea considering who's stuff it is.”

 

“Yeah, you're right.”

 

Liha cut in, “Who was that dwarrow Nali said helped them become a better thief? Gyer?”

 

“Why?” Uloin asked, rolling over to poke her friend in the ribcage.

 

Liha swatted her finger away. “Maybe he would know what they are doing.”

 

“This _is_ Nali we're talking about here.”

 

“Well, what's your idea?”

 

Sisda shrugged. “Stay out of it,” she suggested simply.

 

“What?” the other two dwarrowdams replied together.

 

She rolled her eyes. “Like I said, this is Nali. I trust them not to do something entirely stupid. If they're planning something, we'll just get in the way. There's a reason they didn't tell us about it.” Well, more like a good reason they'd kept Uloin and Liha out of it.

 

\- - -

 

Dori paced. Of course, this in itself was not an unusual occurrence but the fact that it was happening in the middle of a meeting with the Lady Dís was. She watched him carefully, tea cup balanced on one knee as she wrote a letter to the lords of Ered Luin. Her idiot brother should be the one doing this, but Dwalin had roped him into training.

 

Once she had finished writing, she drank the last dregs of her tea, wincing a little at the chilly temperature. Dís glanced at Dori's own cup, assuming it must be even colder than hers at this point. He did not seem to want to talk about whatever was bothering him, but she could make a good guess as to the problem.

 

“Dori?” she tried, observing as he broke out of his musings and dropped into his seat.

 

“Sorry, my lady,” he replied as though she had asked something of him. “I am being rude.” He drank his tea automatically and she felt disturbed that he did not seem to even notice that it was cold. If the pacing hadn't told her that there was a problem, this would have.

 

Dís shrugged, thinking that though Dori hadn't held to his usual standards of politeness, she suffered worse from Thorin, Dwalin and her children every day. “Has something happened with Nori?” She questioned, knowing that his younger sister was one of the only things that could put Dori in a mood like this.

 

“Who knows?” Dori scoffed, and Dís waited, knowing that that was not all he wished to say. He appeared uncomfortable, then met her eyes and deflated slightly. “I haven't heard so much as a word from her in weeks. Usually when that happens she takes her things with her. Yet nothing is missing from her room.”

 

"Where does she normally go?"

 

"Out of the city somewhere. She doesn't say," he said, twisting the cup in his hands.

 

Dís frowned, and thought about what she knew of the middle Ri, who was still a mystery. Nori disliked coming to the dinners the princess hosted, and avoided the royal family. "From what I know of Nori," Dís hedged, "she wouldn't disappear without saying goodbye."

 

"Yes, to Ori," Dori sighed, and rubbed his eyes, looking more tired than she'd seen him in years. Dís' words of comfort died on her lips, and she resigned herself to a gentle touch on the shoulder and a caring look. The only thing to do would be to wait for Nori to come home.

 

\- - -

 

Going to the bar thieves bar that night felt more stressful than it should, and Nori wondered why she felt so tense. Then she looked closer and realized that most of the other crooks she talked to weren't around today.

 

Worried, Nori poked around and found that a bunch of people had taken the night off, the guards pushing them to stay out of trouble. She got the feeling that her operation was the reason for the sudden increase in guard activity. The others were definitely unhappy, muttering irritably about how much they disliked the new captain.

 

Once she'd figured out what was going on, Nori ignored the others' complaining and decided to eat. Her stomach was glad to remind her that she hadn't eaten all day. Sitting alone, she felt someone drop next to her and didn't even look up. If anyone had chosen to join her in this bar that night, it would only be one person.

 

“Durek,” she said flatly. “Did you want something?”

 

“No, little thief,” he said and in a quick glance she saw him watching her intently. “I was wondering where you have been these last weeks.”

 

“What?” Nori joked lightly, “Miss me?”

 

“Hmm. I am worried, yes.”

 

“Am?” Nori echoed, feeling a hint of panic edge its way into her heart. Why would he still be worried now that he saw she was fine?

 

“I do wonder what sort of thing you've gotten yourself into,” Durek said. Nori's heart clenched and her hand tightened around the edge of the table. _He knew._

 

He continued, “I hope you are being careful, of course. I would like not to lose such a good thief.” Nori froze, breath cut off. _He knew and he wasn't going to tell._

 

Feeling her shocked gaze still boring into him, Durek smiled, a harsh whip of a smile gone in a flash. “I've never minded change. It makes life interesting.” Starting to stand up, he finished his speech with a tap to the back of her hand, still tense on the table, “I rather like you, little thief. Do try to stick around.”

 


	13. Tying up loose ends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so reminder that this is not an action story. This chapter does include the arrest of Ovan, but it's very anticlimactic. It felt like the right thing write for this story, and I'm standing behind that choice. However, this does mean that, like, half or more of this chapter isn't about Ovan. 
> 
> Actually the focus of this chapter is really more on developing Nori/Bofur, so if that's not your thing, sorry? So uh, Nori gets very drunk and I apologize now because I've never been drunk so I had to work with what I know about it. But she's also completely exhausted so there's an element of deep deprivation there, and I do know what that is like. Anyway, let me know if anything seems weird or wrong, yeah? (especially if Bofur seems OOC, I'm still working on writing her correctly)
> 
> Hmm, I'm not sure when I'll get the next chapter out but I do have time off of school next week so hopefully I'll get stuff done.

 

Nori met Dwalin in an abandoned back alley, and grinned at the uncomfortable grimace they sported. Leaning in close to them, she whispered, “Don't worry, guard. No one will suspect it's you here.”

 

When they sent her a doubting look, she felt her grin spread further. “Let's just say that most wouldn't want to look too close at what two dwarrow are doing in this alley.”

 

Dwalin made a disgusted face and backed away from her. “Tell me what you found,” they ordered, crossing their arms over their chest and glaring. Nori sighed and pulled back, focusing on Dwalin's face, half hidden by shadows but obviously pulled into a frown.

 

“Well,” she said easily, “I've gained a position in Ovan's business.”

 

“What!?” Dwalin growled, “I thought this was supposed to be covert, not you swanning your way into his arms so he can kill you!”

 

“Do I look dead?” Nori replied, her tone like acid. “Like I told you before, Ovan doesn't care to know me, and his workers are too isolated have heard of me. I'll be fine so long as I don't bring attention to myself. None of them know who I am.”

 

“Fine,” Dwalin said, voice brittle. “What did you find out?”

 

Nori grinned, “How does it make you feel to hear that in a few days, Ovan's business could be on the verge of collapse?”

 

“Oh, aye?” Dwalin sounded skeptical.

 

“Yes,” she declared. “I have a plan to get his followers out from under him, and then it should be a clean sweep.”

 

Dwalin's thick eyebrows knitted together. “What about your boss? Won't he help Ovan?”

 

Nori smirked, and Dwalin met her eyes and looked surprised. Nori laughed at their expression. “Don't worry, guard. I've found some unexpected support.”

 

“If you say so,” they grunted, and she felt her smirk grow at the way they seemed to be pleased despite themself.

 

\- - -

 

In the end, Ovan toppled like a card tower in a strong breeze. She had expected much more of a fight, truly. But in the end, it was all very anticlimactic.

 

Nori had started to craft the plan as soon as she left the bar after talking with Durek. She had based the entire thing on her initial impression of Ovan. Ovan, power hungry and prideful as he was, had not considered loyalty to be a necessary quality in his followers.

 

Or, to be more specific, he thought loyalty could be won over by money alone. True that could be, when the pay was good, the treatment decent, and the risks of the job low. None of that applied to the business Ovan ran.

 

To slip the general workers out from under Ovan's grip had been easy. A few notes placed in unsuspecting pockets, a hurried whisper in a dark hallway, and the rest had been for done her. Rumors spread quickly in any environment, and Ovan's business was no exception. The overworked, and unappreciated workers clung to the idea that Durek was supporting an overthrow of Ovan.

 

Most of the workers didn't want to be there anyway, lured in by the tempting promise of steady pay only to find that Ovan's idea of work was different from theirs. But by the time they found that out, escape had become difficult. Any hint of freedom was enough to keep them on edge, and they were ready to flee at any time. The guards coming to Ovan's door would be enough to send them on their way. The ones left would be quick work to be rid of.

 

Ovan's bodyguards were another obstacle easily removed. They, like the workers, were only there for the money. And when things got difficult, she knew they would bolt. Meeting with Dwalin again, she gave them a list of dwarrows to follow around.

 

It only took a week for the bodyguards to start to crack. They noticed the trails on their tails, and none of the them wanted to get arrested, or beaten up. A few more threats from the guards, and when they came to get Ovan, all the hired bodyguards stood down in deference.

 

Ovan himself was pathetic, too full of himself to pay attention to the dissenting actions of his employees. When they took him, Nori was pretty sure he started crying, like a spoiled child who lost his favorite toy.

 

They brought him in without difficulty. Dwalin made sure to keep the keys to Ovan's cell, not trusting the other guards to ignore the pretty dwarrow. The pretty dwarrow who knew how to pick a pocket through cell bars.

 

Nori expected some quiet shuffling of positions in the main circle of the underground in the next weeks. She wondered if Durek would ask someone to replace Ovan, or would just leave the spot open. He had said he liked change, after all. What did that mean for the rest of them?

 

\- - -

 

Nori wanted to get very, very drunk. She had gotten a black eye and split lip in the arrest, but the bleeding had stopped and she didn't care what she looked like at this point. It had been a week since she had had a good night's sleep, but Ovan was finally locked up and she could go back to her regular activities.

 

She could see her siblings tomorrow. It was definitely time for a bit of celebration.

 

The thieves bar was not an option after Ovan's arrest; it'd look a little weird for her to celebrating there. No, she thought she'd go see what Bofur was up to.

 

The be-hatted dwarrowdam was already there when she got to the other bar, bantering with the bartender. Nori leaned on the door frame for a second, feeling a little strange all the sudden as she watched. Deciding the feeling was just another part of her exhaustion, she swept forward to drop next to Bofur, who turned and beamed at her.

 

Bo threw her arms around Nori, exclaiming about how she hadn't seen her in weeks. Nori sat stiffly at first, shocked at the abundant affection. Bofur seemed to notice her tension and started to pull away but before she got far, Nori relaxed and brought a hand up to hug her back.

 

“I guess you missed me, huh?” Nori asked, laughing as they separated.

 

“Well, you haven't been around,” Bofur said almost scolding. Getting a better look at Nori, she reached out to examine her face. “What happened to you?”

 

Nori shrugged, “Just a little fight. Nothing bad.”

 

Bofur frowned, worry lines looking wrong on her normally cheerful face. She leaned in, whispering so the bartender didn't hear, “Did you piss of the guards again?”

 

Nori shook her head, “Nothin' like that, Bo. It's all blowing over anyway.”

 

Bofur look relieved, sitting back again. “I'll bet you need a drink,” she said, grinning.

 

Nori responded in kind, feeling lighter already. “Why do you think I came here?”

 

Bofur laughed as she flagged down the owner.

 

An hour (and about 3 pints, Nori wasn't exactly keeping track) later and Nori was supporting herself on the bar counter. She'd started out upright, but she noticed that she was rather tilted towards its surface now. Attempting to right herself sent her off balance and she might have fell right off the bar stool had Bofur not caught her.

 

Her brain felt all fuzzy and she noted that Bofur appeared to be laughing her ass off at her.

 

“Never thought you'd be a lightweight,” Bofur teased while Nori blinked back unsteadily instead of answering. She'd never really thought about it, but Bo was very pretty. She wanted to touch her, but any motion to do so set her head spinning again.

 

Nori reflected that she had never tried to get drunk before. Just drinking a pint had always bothered her; she'd feel anxious as her coordination was progressively lost. It felt wrong get into such an unprotected state, but her excitement at taking Ovan down and the comfort she felt in Bofur's presence seemed to have made her forget that.

 

Then she realized she'd left Bofur hanging and struggled to remember what the other dwarrow had said. “I haven't tried to get drunk before,” she finally managed, slurring her words.

 

Bofur's eyebrows went up, until Nori couldn't even see them because they were under her hat. She giggled at this, and swayed in her seat. “What, never?” came her friend's shocked voice.

 

“I didn't like it,” Nori said easily. She finally managed to shift her seat a little closer to Bo so that she could more touch her if she only leaned forward a bit.

 

“Then why now?”

 

“I'm celebrating.”

 

“Celebrating what?”

 

Nori froze, knowing that she shouldn't tell Bofur in case someone found out. But she wanted to share. Gesturing to Bofur, she obligingly moved forward to let Nori whisper into her ear, “I got Ovan arrested.”

 

“Ovan?” Bofur pondered. “Do I know that name?”

 

Nori let Bofur pull away, even though she liked having her that close. “He wasn't a good person,” she said and watched Bofur's eye widen in realization.

 

“Nori...” Bofur said slowly. “Was that a safe thing to do?”

 

“I already told everybody,” Nori complained. “I'll be fine.”

 

“Alright,” Bofur said amiably, though her eyes were still worried. Looking Nori up and down, she added, “You are drunk as shit. I should get you home.”

 

Nori nodded, willing to follow Bofur if she left. The other dwarrowdam jumped off her stool, and came over to wrap an arm around Nori's waist. “I can walk,” Nori protested, but Bo ignored her and helped her down. As soon as she stepped down, Nori was glad for the support, as she wasn't quite sure where her knees had run off to. She scrambled a little until she found them and let Bofur practically carry her out with minimal complaints.

 

They stepped outside, and Nori thought that she should be feeling the wind that whipped past and through their clothes. But she felt warm, both from the drink and from the feeling of Bofur's arm around her, which sent tingles and shivers up her spine. Not cold shivers, but somehow the opposite, spikes of heat cascading up and down her back.

 

She wanted to kiss Bofur. Their mouths were close enough to do it. But, she thought, Bofur might not want her to. So she didn't, even though she would have barely had to move to do it.

 

Everything was out of focus now as her head spun from the motion, and she closed her eyes and leaned further on Bofur, who didn't seem to mind. “Where are we going?” Bofur prodded, and Nori opened her mouth to give her address when she realized how she looked right now. Dori would murder her, and Bofur, if she came home like this, black-eyed and drunker than she'd ever been.

 

“Fuck,” she said with feeling, sobering up a little at the thought.

 

Bofur froze. “What's wrong?”

 

“Can't go home,” Nori said, groaning. “Not like this. Dori'd kill us.”

 

Bofur seemed to think this over. “Well,” she said, “then I guess you're coming home with me.”

 

Nori felt another spike of heat jolt through her at this and remembered how much she wanted to kiss Bofur. “What?”

 

“I can't let you wander around like this,” Bofur said, blinking warm brown eyes at Nori. “C'mon.”

 

Nori let herself be tugged around, thinking vaguely that she would definitely be ashamed over her behavior in the morning. Being led about was rather embarrassing and she shuddered to think what would happen if anyone she knew ran into them.

 

Thankfully they avoided running into anyone on the way to Bofur's place. Nori couldn't help but try to memorize the way, even knowing she'd forget most of this later, because she almost never came here. She knew the people in this section of the city didn't have anything for her to steal, so there was no reason to come.

 

She'd never thought about Bofur as one of those who had almost nothing, but the evidence was right in front of her. Bofur, and her fellow miners, made less money than Dori ever would. Her room was tiny, and a little cramped but Bofur maneuvered the two of them around the furniture, which consisted of a bed, stove, small table and chair.

 

Nori paid some attention to Bofur's ramblings as she was pushed down onto the bed. She sat unsteadily while Bofur bustled around fetching her a glass of water. “... My brother loves just down the street, though he's not a miner but it was cheap and big enough for all his little ones. He's an architect, you remember? It's hard to get a job in a city like this, so he works with his wife, Halla. She's a cook down near the mine, gets paid decent for the job. Taught him how to cook herself, he was useless at it before she came around. My cousin used to be in the guard, of course, but after the accident he runs a toymaker stall. You know, the one I help him out with? He lives across the hall...”

 

Nori knew most of this already but the chatter was comforting and familiar. She closed her eyes and found that the fuzziness of her thoughts had evolved to include her tired state. Bofur pressed a glass of water and watched her until she drank all of it. Her head stayed full of fluff, but Bofur looked relieved nonetheless.

 

Bofur sat in the chair next to the bed, and Nori remembered that she was on Bofur's bed. She frowned, thinking that it wasn't exactly kind of her to take her bed. She tried to stand, but Bo pushed her back down. Nori huffed, “I shouldn't be on your bed.”

 

Bofur rolled her eyes, and Nori found herself staring. Had she been watching her all night? She didn't remember. “I put you there, so stay. You need it more than me at this point,” she said, watching Nori lilt to one side. “When's the last time you slept properly?” Her tone was scolding, with a caring undertone, familiar in a way.

 

Nori snorted, listing further. “You sound like Dori.”

 

Bofur frowned a little, “Your sibling?”

 

“Irritating older brother,” Nori answered. As the words left her mouth she thought that she'd spent so long making sure no one knew she had family left and here she was spilling to Bofur. But Bofur wouldn't give her away, wouldn't spill her secrets.

 

Nori felt a little confused at herself. Why should it matter? She'd told herself that she wouldn't tell anyone. But Bofur had a glint in her eye that said she realized Nori was loose lipped right now and was happy to abuse the opportunity.

 

Nori couldn't bring herself to be mad at Bofur's interrogation, even as she told her friend more and more about her family. She would have done the same thing, had their positions been reversed.

 

After a few minutes, Nori's exhaustion caught up with her and she almost fell asleep where she sat, eyes closing in the middle of sentence. Bofur gently pushed her down on the bed and told her to sleep. Nori was too tired to protest.

 

\- - -

 

Nori woke up.

 

It only took a few seconds for her to notice something was wrong. She jolted upright, and groaned when her head throbbed and her stomach complained. When she felt settled again, she looked around and realized that she was still in Bofur's bed.

 

The other dwarrowdam had fallen sleep on the chair, head lolling over the back of it and snore echoing through the little room. Nori, amused despite herself, almost reached out and shook Bofur awake. But she couldn't help but feel it would be a little awkward to be wake Bofur up in her own home. Leaving quietly would keep any weirdness from occurring.

 

Still woozy and wincing from the pain in her head, Nori stumbled out of bed, glad that her unusual clumsiness didn't wake Bofur up. She chugged another glass of water, picked up the key to the room from the table and Bofur's hat from the floor where it had fallen. Placing the hat on the bed, she slipped out, made sure everything was locked up, and slid the key back under the door for her friend to find.

 

Then she went home, dreading what would happen when Dori got a hold of her.

 

 


	14. Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this chapter is a little disjointed. I knew what I wanted to write, but it didn't want to flow nicely. Um, if anyone's confused about what's going on with Nori/Bofur, I'm putting a little explanation in the end notes. 
> 
> Guess what? This is almost done! I have two more chapters planned so it should completed in a couple weeks!

 

“That idiot's gonna lose all he's got in three turns if he keeps playing like that!”

 

“What?” Nori said with confusion, spinning around to see what Bofur was talking about.

 

Bofur jerked her head at the cards game going on two tables over. “The game. Guy on the end.”

 

Nori watched the players select cards and put them down, sometimes groaning, sometimes smiling. She saw who Bofur was talking about, a reckless player, throwing out terrible hands with little to no decision making time. Tilting her head, she considered him and the way he observed and cataloged the other players before tossing out his own hand.

 

Feeling a smirk spread across her face, she leaned and said in a low voice, “I'll bet you five coins he wins the game.”

 

Bofur gaped at her in disbelief, before choking back laughter. “Don't think I won't take your money happily,” she snorted, confident.

 

“Wait and see,” Nori purported.

 

For the next fews minutes, Bofur's face stayed steady and amused. Then she began to falter when the dwarrow won the next hand, and then the next. She was sitting there in shock, mouth open wide when he took the pot. Nori chuckled and held out a hand tauntingly.

 

Bofur slapped the coins in it but gave Nori a challenging look that sent shivers down her spine. "I'm going to get that back," she announced, looking around as though an opportunity would spring into being.

 

Nori raised an eyebrow, "How exactly?"

 

Bofur shrugged, and nudged Nori in the side. "Somehow. Maybe I'll steal it back."

 

"I'd like you to try," Nori dared, spreading her arms out invitingly.

 

Bofur looked her up and down. Nori did her best to ignore the flash of heat that went through her at Bofur's stare, irritated at herself. After a moment, Bofur sighed, "Even if I got it back, you'd pick my pocket before you left."

 

"Good choice," Nori said, triumphant.

 

Bofur glared, but it was weak and lacked force. "I'll find something else," she said, unfocusing a little as she tried to work out a surefire way to get her money back.

 

Nori tried to look around her and think about it herself but her eyes kept getting draw back to Bofur's face. She inspected her, noticing little things that she hadn't before. That there were lines etched across her skin, laugh lines and faint impressions of past dark circles under her eyes.

 

She had earrings, simple silver rings, no decoration and half hidden under her braids. Nori's fingers itched to design better ones, with jewels and better, newer materials. A perfect courting gift, made by her own hands.

 

Bofur turned to her again, grinning and tossing a challenge and Nori tried to listen, mind still distracted. She caught up with the conservation before long, but the thought lingered in her mind. Why had she thought that?

 

\- - -

 

Nori wondered about how much her relationship with Bofur had changed since they had first met. For the first few years it had nothing but a drinking buddies kind of relationship. Nori would show up to Bo's favorite bar when she could spare the time, and Bofur would join her for a drink.

 

She suspected it was mainly Bofur's fault they'd gotten closer. The charming dwarrowdam took the time to ask Nori questions about her life, and told her about her own when she didn't answer. The more Nori learned about Bofur's parents, her brother, her cousin, the more she wanted to tell her friend about her own family. Most of the time however, her promise to herself to keep her secrets stopped her from replying in kind.

 

Her silence had never seemed to bother Bofur. She always was happy to see Nori, even when Nori could see the tired circles between her eyes. Unlike Bofur later on, Nori hadn't called Bo out on it, just watched to make sure she headed home, leaving her to her own devices. Nori had never thought about taking Bofur home herself. It hadn't even crossed her mind, in all the years they had known each other. Nori guessed that showed distinctly the differences between the two of them.

 

If Bofur was out traveling with her cousin to sell the toys they both made, Nori wouldn't go the bar. She saw no reason to visit that bar when Bofur wouldn't be there.

 

Nori didn't even remember when she'd started to think of Bofur as her friend. Perhaps it had been the first time she'd told Bofur about her chosen craft. It had also been the first time she'd come into the bar bloody and bruised, but nowhere near the last.

 

“ _Nori, what in the blazes happened?”_

 

_Nori shrugged the question off, throwing herself into the chair next to Bofur. “Just a little disagreement.”_

 

“ _Little?" she sounded disbelieving. "With who, the whole guard force?”_

 

“ _Of course not. I wouldn't survive a fight with all the guards.”_

 

_Bofur blinked. “Why would you get into a fight with all of them?”_

 

_Nori realized slowly that she'd just given herself away with that comment. “Well...”_

 

_Bofur looked rather bemused, “Have I made friends with a crook?”_

 

“ _Does that bother you?” Nori asked, wary and tense._

 

_Not even pausing to think it over, Bofur gave her a small smile. “I would have liked to know it beforehand, but I guess I'm too attached to care now. Unless you've been stealing from me?”_

 

_Nori straightened further and gave her a serious look, “I wouldn't steal from anyone who couldn't stand to lose more than I take. And I've never stolen anything from a miner.”_

 

“ _Good,” Bofur said, similarly serious. “People around here don't need to lose more.”_

 

“ _No,” Nori muttered, “They don't.” Then she tilted her head, “I'd tell you sorry for not letting you know earlier but-”_

 

“ _Let me guess,” Bofur cut in, the light back in her eyes, “You're not?”_

 

_Nori laughed, and then winced at the tug at her cuts her smile caused. Bofur immediately looked worried, and leaned over to inspect her injuries. Nori waved her off, “I'll be fine.”_

 

“ _So,” Bofur drawled, leaning back again, “What did happen?”_

 

_Nori rolled her eyes.“Got chased down by a couple guards for taking some rich chap's purse. They managed to get a hand on me and beat me up. But the cuffs definitely weren't on tight enough,” she said, grinning and holding up bruised wrists._

 

“ _Nice to know you're not gonna get yourself locked up any time soon,” Bofur said, amused despite herself. “Be a little disappointing for you to suddenly stop showing up.”_

 

“ _Only happened once,” Nori replied, winking at the other dwarrowdam. Bofur just shook her head._

 

Since that day, Bofur had not exactly accepted her chosen craft, but hadn't been like Dori and decried it. She had accepted that it was part of who Nori was at that point, but also didn't ask her about events on a regular basis. She did ask about what happened when Nori came in beaten up. The story was usually the same as the first.

 

After that, their relationship had grown more comfortable, friendlier in a way. Nori knew she'd started acting less distant, giving Bofur clues into what her life and family were like. Still, she couldn't remember the first time she'd thought of Bofur as a friend.

 

She definitely couldn't remember when she'd started thinking of courting.

 

\- - -

 

Getting the itch to craft was no alien feeling. Ever since she'd stopped learning her true craft to pursue her chosen one, Nori had felt the faintest urges to create jewelry. Most of the time, she satisfied the urge with thread, using yarn to create the thieves' symbols hung in windows to show a safe place.

 

But when she thought of Bofur, the urge to craft grew, and she found herself staring longingly as she passed jeweler’s stalls in the market, her fingers itching to take. Nori was tempted to do it, to take some supplies and try her best with her limited skills to craft something.

 

But anything she could make would not be the worth the time spent on it. She hadn't practiced the few skills she'd learned under her master many years ago. All she knew now was locks, pick-pocketing and sneaking. Nothing that could be given as a proper courting gift.

 

Not that she wanted to give a courting gift. Why should she? She'd decided long ago that courting was irritating, impractical and bound to lead to problems. She knew this to be true, she'd heard enough from others to realize the truth of it. Furthermore, Nori had never been interested in anyone before.

 

She wondered what was wrong with her. Why did she keep thinking about Bofur and courting gifts? Courting was something she'd swore off of after Bét, and she wasn't keen to revisit those memories. No, she must be thinking of gifts as a way to repay Bofur for helping her. That was all. Nori didn't want to bother with courting. She hadn't wanted to ever before.

 

\- - -

 

Walking into the thieves' bar, Nori immediately felt eyes on her. She didn't have to wonder why, she saw the empty spot at Durek's table, surrounded by open floor space. Anyone who was anyone knew that Durek had a soft spot for her, and they were all bitter about it.

 

They thought that she would take the open position, and they would lose their chance at fame and fortune. Nori already knew what her answer would be if Durek asked her. She couldn't stand the idea of more attention on her, and knew that anyone who worked under Durek had to do exactly as he said, or else. He was like Ovan in that regard. She would get no choice about what she did, or how she did it, if she let him convince her to join him.

 

Nori would rather have her freedom, and her rapidly disappearing anonymity. The risk that someone would try to hurt her had already doubled from Durek's attentions, it go through the roof if she joined him.

 

Durek approached her before she even made into the main room. They were far enough away from everyone that they would not be heard if they spoke quietly. She frowned at him and he ignored her irritated look.

 

“I see you're missing a person at the head table,” she said, nodding to the back of the room.

 

“Yes,” Durek replied, “I was hoping I'd be able to find someone to the fill the spot soon.”

 

“Good luck,” Nori said emphatically, stepping forward to move around him. His hand stopped her, grasping her wrist.

 

“You would be a great leader, if you joined us.”

 

“And you would make a good advisor to the King,” Nori replied, raising an eyebrow at him.

 

He backed away, cutting off an abrupt laugh. “I see your point. Will you still do jobs for me?”

 

“Maybe. If you ask nicely,” Nori said, brushing past him.

 

“I knew there was a reason I liked you, little thief.”

 

Sitting down, Nori knew that there would still be eyes on her for week, but many would see that she wasn't accepting Durek's offer. She was safer than she had been before she walked in.

 

\- - -

 

Walking alone, Nori could sense someone following her. There was the slight sound of footsteps mimicking the pattern of her stride too closely to be a coincidence. She wondered if perhaps she could slip out of the back alleys and into a more populated area. That might not get them to stop following her, but it would make it easier for her to slip away.

 

Nori tried to turn out of the alley but found a hand on shoulder and a knife at her throat made that impossible. They tugged her back into a darkened corner, and a slippery voice whispered to her, “You're in my way, thief.”

 

“What? To a seat in the head circle? How could I be in your way?” Nori said, unable to stem the sharp reply.

 

“Everyone knows Durek likes you.” The knife at her throat pressed closer to her skin and she tried not to swallow.

 

“Doesn't mean I want to sign away my life to him.”

 

“A seat at the back table gives the dwarrow who holds it power.”

 

“Depends on your point of view,” Nori tested, feeling the hand holding her begin to loosen it's grip. Bad idea. She grabbed their wrist, twisting it hard. The knife clattered to the ground. Stepping out from under their arm, she pulled twin daggers from under her tunic before they could take a step towards her.

 

“I already turned Durek down,” she said warily, watching them for any sudden movements. “I was hoping to avoid shit like this. I'm not searching for power, so leave me alone.” They met her eyes, and she knew they didn't quite believe her, but they nodded anyway. She backed and left as fast as possible, hoping that such confrontations would be minimal in the next few days.

 

\- - -

 

Liha grabbed ahold of Nori as they passed each other on the street. “You're coming to dinner,” she commanded and Nori followed with a raised eyebrow and shrug.

 

“Did I piss you off somehow?” she asked in a light voice that betrayed her curiosity, not pulling from Liha's grasp on her upper arm.

 

“No,” Liha dragged the vowel out. “Just come talk, okay?”

 

“If you insist.”

 

Sisda and Uloin were already perched on the only real seats at Liha's place, the bed and other chair covered in various clothes and stolen goods. Sisda said nothing at their sudden arrival, just gave Nori a long, hard look. Uloin jumped up to grab both of them in a hug, one that Nori tolerated for a moment before pulling away.

 

“So,” she drawled, clearing space on the bed and sitting, “what did you idiots want with me?”

 

“Really Liha, you couldn't explain anything?” scolded Uloin

 

“I said we wanted to talk!”

 

Ssida, ignoring her friends, turned to Nori and asked bluntly, “Did you have something to do with Ovan's arrest?”

 

“Oh, that,” Nori dismissed the question with a wave of her hand, “I gave the guards some help is all.”

 

Uloin looked at her in shock, “You could have gotten killed!”

 

Nori gestured to herself, “I didn't. What's the problem?”

 

“You didn't tell us,” Sisda accused.

 

“Maybe I didn't think it would be a good idea for you know.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“Come on, Liha. Like you would have kept everything secret and not gotten Nali in trouble?” Uloin rebuked. “I wish Nali had told us, but it was probably for the best.”

 

Liha sighed. “At least Ovan's gone for good.”

 

“That was the point of the whole thing,” Nori replied sarcastically.

 

Liha glared for a short moment before demanded Nori tell them how everything went down. She rolled her eys but sat up straighter and told them what she could.

 

"Are you still working with the guards?" Sisda asked when she'd finished.

 

"Ovan's gone," Nori replied. "I don't need to."

 

\- - -

 

Nori heard from Sisda the next day that Durek had picked his newest head table member. Taor, some dwarrow she hadn't met before but knew from the gossip about them. They were not as loud and bright as Ovan had been, but they gave off a certain charm that worked all the same. This new leader happily took over what was left of Ovan's business, but they seemed to have learned form their predecessor. Nori didn't catch wind of any complaints against them.

 

Once they were in place, any plans to attack her seemed to disintegrate. No one had thought Durek even knew who Taor was before this, so it became obvious that personal favor didn't make his choices. Most were happy to let Nori fade away in the unknown once again, though she still felt eyes on her sometimes.

 

\- - -

 

“I'd have thought you'd be done with me now we've gotten rid of Ovan,” Nori said, stepping out of the shadows to face down Dwalin.

 

They glowered at her. “You could still be helpful.”

 

Nori's eyebrows went up. “I'm no guard.”

 

“Obviously,” they snorted. “But you could keep me updated.”

 

“That's a dangerous job,” she said, watching them for any signs of lying. “Could get bad for me if anyone finds out.”

 

“We can keep an eye on you.”

 

“You so sure about that? You couldn't get to Ovan without my help. If something happens to me, how do I know you'll be there on time?”

 

Dwlin crossed their arms and frowned, but didn't reply.

 

“I thought so,” Nori added, a bitter, disdainful edge creeping into her voice. “Ask me again when you have a better offer.”

 

“This is important,” Dwalin snapped, reaching out as though to grab her but not finishing the movement. “You could make a big difference for us, for everyone.”

 

Nori narrowed her eyes, “If you keep quiet, meaning no one finds out where you get your information, I might tell you about the worst of the bunch. But I'm not giving you shit about the smaller level thieves. And I can't promise anything.”

 

Dwalin nodded, an almost grateful look shining in their eyes. “Understood.”

 

\- - -

 

Gyer leaned against the wall of the building he was supposed to meet Nali at. His bones rather protested the position, groaning at him to find someplace more comfortable to stand. But there wasn't anywhere else, unless he sat on the ground, which was covered in filth.

 

Nali appeared in front of him, startlingly quick. He had not seen nor heard them approach. “Listen,” they said, glancing around in short hurried looks, “I can't stay long.”

 

“Someone after you?” Gyer said, watching them twitch.

 

“Maybe,” they said shortly, tapping their hand on their leg.

 

“You're the one who wanted this meeting,” Gyer said, reproachful and a little bemused.

 

“Problems arise,” Nali stated thoughtfully. Then they found the person they were checking for, and ducked out in the opposite direction before he could ask anything else.

 

Gyer watched them go, still concerned and yet also becoming amused. Looking around, he saw a lovely, and irritated, dwarrow with perfect braids barge through the crowd over to him. He tried not to raise an eyebrow, but the sight was shocking. Was this who Nali was trying to avoid? Considering the look on his face, Gyer couldn't blame them.

 

He stopped in front of him, hands on his hips and face still red with anger. “Where is Nori going?”

 

“What?” Gyer said innocently.

 

“The dwarrow who you were just talking to. Where is she going?”

 

“I truthfully don't know,” Gyer said, curiosity peaked. Nori? She? They weren't telling everyone the same stories, that was certain. But which was the truth?

 

The other dwarrow watched him for a long moment, then he rubbed his hands over his face and groaned. He started to step away, but not before Gyer caught the end of a muttered comment. “If Mother were still alive, she'd skin you alive for leaving home again, I swear to Mahal.”

 

Well, that was the answer to that question. He wondered what _Nori_ would say if he asked _her_ about it.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay first of all, I'm not planning on actually getting them together in this. (There's supposed to an epilogue later). 
> 
> Now, I know that Nori's thought process in this is all weird and jerky. I've always hced Nori as being somewhere on the aro spectrum and it really depends on the verse where she is in it. For this one, she's demiromantic, and I'm modeling her experiences after mine (as I recently started identifying as demiromantic). So basically she has never wanted to court anybody before because she never developed a connection with them. So now she's close enough to Bofur to feel romantically attracted and it's confusing. I hope this stops anyone from being confused or offended. I probably should have explained this earlier, whoops.


	15. Interlude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I was supposed to be writing a serious chapter, and this was supposed to the beginning of it. But I OC'ed and this got longer than expected. Soon we will back to our regularly scheduled program, but in the meantime please this enjoy this interlude featuring the younger characters. 
> 
> I borrowed the idea that I've seen around before that some dwarves have a stone-sense where they can feel the differences and vibrations in the stone. It's usually helpful for warning for them of unstable footing, approaching movement, and where the gems/whatever is in the rock.
> 
> This chapter is after another ~10 years time skip. So we have about 30 years to the quest now I think. There will def be another time skip soon. 
> 
> Fili's pronouns have changed again if anyone notices. 
> 
> Warnings: mentions of death, violence, semi-implied parental abuse, also kinda ptsd like symptoms with a specific trigger involving a vaguely described traumatic experience - if that bothers you look for the flashback near the end in italics (This sounds super heavy, wow. I promise it's all very vague or like one sentence so it's not as bad as it sounds)

 

Fíli flopped down on the grass beside Ori. Draping her hand dramatically across her face, she groaned out, “Ori, you should be so glad you don't have to train with us.”

 

Looking up at where Kíli was getting their ass handed to them by Dwalin, Ori had agree. The young scribe apprentice would much rather be completing their own work for the day, copying an entire chapter, than training with Dwalin. No matter how attractive the guard captain was. They would bet that the pain of being repeatedly hit with an ax would rather ruin that part.

 

Fíli rolled over from where she had landed, pressing her face into Ori's leg, apparently irritated at the lack of a response. “How can you do that all day?” she asked, crinkling her nose at the journal in Ori's lap.

 

“Because it's my craft?” Ori replied, a hint of sarcasm in their voice. “Would you ask a blacksmith that?”

 

“Depends on what they were making,” Fíli replied obstinately. “Are you staying for dinner tonight?”

 

“Did your mother tell you to ask me that or are you planning to spring me on her?”

 

Fíli's silence provided the answer to that question. She sat up now, pulling her face away from Ori's lap to drag herself upright and lean heavily on her shoulder. Ori grumbled and pretended to swat at their friend, but didn't mind the weight against their side.

 

“Didn't you ever want to learn how to fight?” Fíli blurted out without a segue. “I know that Dori was the one who decided not to sign you up for any lessons or anything.”

 

Ori thought for a long moment. “I never thought about it. I guess it could be useful, but I'm not exactly roaring to learn, not when I have so many other things to do.”

 

Fíli perked up, and she sounded a little excited, thought she kept most of the emotion out of her voice. “Kee and I could teach you something!”

 

“I don't know, Fee...” Ori worried the idea over.

 

“Nothing too fancy, I promise. Maybe just how to use daggers properly?”

 

Ori remembered how their sister always carried around many daggers, hidden in the folds of her clothing. Dori had tried to ignore them from the start, but Ori had bothered her until Nori told them where she hid them all. “I-”

 

Kíli threw themself across Ori's and Fíli's laps. Fíli frowned at them, but pushed sweaty hair back from their face with gentle hands. As she did so, she said, “I didn't think you were done yet."

 

“Dwalin let me have a break. What are you talking about?” they questioned, not bothering to get off of the other two. Ori rolled their eyes at them, pushing lazily at them to get off. Kíli ignored it.

 

“We're going to teach Ori how to fight,” Fíli proclaimed.

 

“Oo, with what?” Kíli immediately sat up straight, almost shoving an elbow into Ori's gut. They huffed in irritation and scooted out of the way of any flailing limbs.

 

Fíli shrugged, “General stuff first. Then maybe daggers?” She looked at Ori who bit their lip and thought about it. A long buried idea slithered out from the back of their mind, and they lit it slip out.

 

“What about... a slingshot?”

 

The heirs of Durin's line stared at her for a long second, then beamed. “That's definitely an Ori-kind of weapon!” Kíli announced, bouncing a little as they spoke.

 

“I can see it,” Fíli agreed, hand under her chin in a mimic of deep thought.

 

“Oi! Lazy asses! Get over here, the both of ya!” Dwalin called, already spinning their axes threateningly.

 

The two younger dwarrows groaned, and stumbled up to rejoin Dwalin for their training. But the promise to teach Ori was not forgotten, and they found the two waiting outside Balin's office the next day.

 

\- - -

 

Liha stood outside the cafeteria, sure her knees must be making some noise from how much they were clacking together. _It's just a conservation,_ she told herself. _Nothing big._ It felt like it was.

 

She walked in, after she got a few strange looks for standing there for so long. Just past the doorway, she stopped again, unsure where she was supposed to go.

 

“Ah, Liha, right?” came a voice from her left, and she spun to meet the dwarrow walking towards her. “I'm Halla, I help with the lunch course. You talked with Chef Vonr, yes?”

 

Liha swallowed and found her voice, “Yes, I met with them last week.”

 

Halla gave her a sweet smile, and led her on, pushing easily through the crowd of miners clamoring for their breakfast. “Don't worry about the crowd,” she called back. “They're good people, just a little overwhelming is all.”

 

Liha nodded, heart in throat. If she stolen from anyone here, and they recognized her, she'd lose this opportunity. A chance for a real job, to make money without stealing it. She liked the thrill of crime, but knew that she could come to like the stability of a paycheck even more.

 

She'd been cooking for herself since she was a tiny thing. Her adad was too much of a drunkard to bother with her and her amad had died in childbirth. She had had to deal with things on her own, and had learned to cook out of necessity.

 

Liha wouldn't claim to be a master chef, but without any restrictions from her adad, she'd been able to teach herself quite a bit. She knew how to make many things, using recipes from her family's ancient cookbook. Since moving out of her adad's home when he'd raised a hand to her, right after she'd met Nali and Uloin, she'd joined Uloin in their own place. There'd been less of a chance to cook while living with Uloin, but she still remembered everything.

 

When she'd run into the head chef of the cafeteria, she'd expected to be run out or brought to the guards. Instead, Chef Vonr, a older dwarrow who looked tired but could lift an oak bench with one hand, had done the opposite. They had looked her up and down, taken the stolen bread and led her inside with an insistent hand on her shoulder. She'd flinched away, scared of a beating ,or worse, but without saying a word, Chef had served her a bowl of stew and glared until she ate it.

 

“Was that bread just for you?” they had asked, hands on their hips.

 

Liha shook her head, still worried and searching for a good way to escape. The bread was supposed to be for her and Uloin.

 

“Do you know how to cook?”

 

When Liha had just stared at the other dwarrow in confusion, they'd rubbed their forehead with a groan. They added, “I'm guessing you don't have any legitimate employment if you're stealing from me.”

 

“I know how to cook,” Liha replied slowly, unsure at where the conservation was heading.

 

Chef nodded, looking unsurprised. They tided up the dirty bowl, went to clean it, not facing Liha. As they washed up, they said, “If you need a way to make some coin, there's always room for another cook here.”

 

Liha blinked, registering the situation quickly. She stood up, moving silently as Nali had taught her. Chef stayed turned around, even though it shouldn't have taken that long to clean one bowl. Liha saw that the bread was still on the table. Taking it, she'd left.

 

It had taken her a week to decide on what to do. Yesterday she'd approached Chef, who'd smiled at her and told her to come in the next day, to work. Today, Chef Vonr, handed her an apron, and led her to the back.

 

When Liha left that day, her hand were still covered in flour and she was still smiling. It had felt right, to work with food again, and she knew she would be back the next day.

 

\- - -

 

Liha bit her lip, desperate to say something about her new job but worried at the other's reactions. Uloin had squirmed her way onto her lap, her head pillowed on Liha's thighs. Sisda was at the table, chattering on in her quiet way about some jerk who'd gotten too free with his touches.

 

She held off until the story was over, Sisda having slammed the jerk's face into a wall. Then she burst out, “I got a job!”

 

Uloin immediately sat bolt upright, “What?!”

 

Liha tried again, quieter this time. “I got a job?”

 

“Why?” Uloin asked, clutching her chest and looking betrayed.

 

“Because I get paid?” Liha tried.

 

“But what about us?” Uloin pressed.

 

Liha frowned. “I'm still here, aren't I? I'm not going to leave just because I'm working now.”

 

Uloin opened her mouth to say something but Sisda cut her off before she could begin. “Leave her alone, Uloin,” Looking at Liha she asked, “Is it your calling? Or just a job?”

 

Liha didn't dare glance at Uloin, who was radiating hurt. “It's my calling. And I'm getting a good wage too.”

 

Sisda nodded. “Surprisingly sensible of you. How did you get it?”

 

Blushing, Liha replied, “I got caught stealing from the cafeteria. Chef offered me a job when they caught me.”

 

Sisda sighed. “Well, a pity job is better than nothing. As long as you prove yourself worthy of it.”

 

“But...” Uloin started, still looking confused and starting to look mad.

 

Sisda was tempted to shush her again. She thought of the embroidered dresses tucked her own bed, and the soreness in her fingers after she'd completed them. There was no chance she'd get a placement in any clothing stores, untrained as she was. And no way to afford an apprenticeship, even if she weren't too old to begin training anyway. The debt her parents had left her after dying from the black lung, debt to the doctors and to the lord they worked under, prevented that. There was no money to spare.

 

Sisda wasn't sure embroidery was her calling, but she loved the work none-the-less. But she couldn't do it for a living. If Liha could do what she loved, and get paid for it, then she would be better off than thievery would have had her anyway.

 

It seemed that Uloin didn't feel the same way.

 

\- - -

 

Uloin wandered the edges of the city, still brimming with anger. She relied on Liha, needed her to be there to help her with the more difficult thefts. Liha couldn't just skip out like this! It broke the unspoken rules of their friendship. To help each other out and not leave anyone behind. Well, Liha was ignoring both at the same time.

 

She guessed that that meant they weren't friends anymore. And Sisda had defended her! Like it was nothing!

 

The edges of the city were quieter than she expected. Probably because it was late at night. She didn't know how late. Her feet had not measured the passage of time, as her head had wandered.

 

Well, it was definitely too late now to go back. And she wasn't about to apologize. Liha should be the one doing that.

 

The buildings here were still made of stone, though they were far from the mountain. It was all the mines ever truly produced. The precious metals and gems had long been mined away, and bare scatterings were left for those who had come to live here. But the flow of exiled dwarrows had not stopped for many years after the war, after the fall of Erebor. And they had to mine for what they could, money and most possessions taken from them in the tragedies. For every gem that they unearthed, tons of rock was shifted. Needing to get it out of the way, miners shipped it off to the surface, and sold for a low price to families who used it to build homes.

 

This rock, that the buildings were made of, was part of the mountain still. Moved and reassembled, yes, but still of the mountain. The feel of the rock soothed the families that had to live there, distant from the mountain itself as they were. Comfort, a feeling of protection, all came from the rock.

 

Except that Uloin could not feel it. She could sense the stone, but the warm feelings that came with it were eclipsed by others. Why had she come here? There was too much unoccupied stone around her, and with its gentle touch on her mind, she felt herself sinking into memories.

 

_Fingers working through her thick, heavy waves of black, black hair, braided back to match the hairstyle of the one behind her. Leaning back to glance up through the parted hair and feeling a soft kiss to her forehead. Hands, with copper skin and callused knuckles, tugging apart knots. Hands catching her when she tried to escape the ministrations, and tickling her until she laughed so hard she couldn't breathe. Soap bubbles making funny hairstyles while Amad sung a bathing song. Arms holding her as she slipped into sleep, another lullaby whispered into the still air. Arms teaching her how to feel for the gems and metals in the rock, how to use the stone-sense that had been in the family for generations._

 

_Arms pushing her away when the alarm bells sounded. Shrieking and the sound of clashing coming through the walls to her little hideaway. Laying under the bed in her amad's room, waiting for the return that would not come, every inch of her body pressed to the stone. Finally wandering out only see nothing but blood and death. Hands that were not her amad's drawing her away, turning her head so she wouldn't see the body but it was already too late._

 

Uloin jerked out of the memory, tear tracks etched down her face and into her beard. She'd lost her only parent that day and she still couldn't use her stone-sense without the memories rushing back. It still hurt, nearly thirty years later. She was supposed to be a a dwarrow almost grown, but at heart, she still felt like she was the girl who lost her amad, like she'd been frozen in time.

 

She turned away from the outskirts of the city, moving back into its heart, where the bustle of life kept her from sensing the stone. Uloin ignored the tug to find her old home. There was nothing there for her now.

 

Amad was gone, had been for so long. She'd never had an Adad. Amad hadn't been interested in courting, only in having a child, and had raised Uloin on her own. She hadn't thought she would die years before her daughter's fortieth birthday.

 

No one ever mentioned how many dwarrows had died in the orc raid that year. It was talked about either in vague generalities, or only ever recognized one death in the dozens that had occurred. Víli, Víli, Víli. All the others ever cared about was the princess's husband. Oh, it was sad that he'd died, and she felt for their children, but they at least still had a mother. She had no one left after the raid, but no one would talk to her about it. They expected her to move on, but her memories haunted her still. She didn't understand how she was supposed to just forget everything that happened.

 

 

Now it seemed like Liha was leaving her too, forcing her to be alone again. Without Liha, she didn't know what she would do. The stone called to her, but answering the call hurt more than anything. Without Liha, it was harder to ignore its call.

 


	16. Coming home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this was supposed to be the second to last chapter. But it's the third to last chapter now. Whoops. Everything else I said before still applies. Hopefully this stops growing so I can just finish it, good gods. 
> 
> I realized I forgot something back in like ch2 that was super important? Quick explanation so you don't have to go looking for the changes I have made/will make: some of Zhori's suitors were more like potential rapists. She stopped them but told Nori and Dori about it when they got older. This is important because it's where Nori first gets the idea that some dwarves would abuse the lack of good law enforcement to hurt others. Which is her main reason for her cross-dressing thing.  
> So yeah, that's mentioned in this chapter. 
> 
> Lastly, this chapter finally addresses the conservation in the prologue. You might want to go re-read that! ;)

 

Nori adjusted the fall of her travel clock, tugging the thick cloth to block the cold wind coming from the north. Her eyelids felt heavy and she hurried her footsteps home, glad to be back and yet already missing the road under her feet.

 

Her hair was not in the tri-peaked style she usually had it in. Nori'd been traveling for so long, a complicated style like that just took time out of her day. So she'd dropped it, wore the traveling braids she'd first worn on her first trip out of Ered Luin.

 

She tried to keep a look out for guards as she walked. The city guards shouldn't recognize her, not after years of her being gone, and without her normal hairstyle. Still, she kept an eye out, especially for Dwalin, who she could be sure would not be happy at her.

 

She'd mused about continuing on traveling for a few more years, but the itch in her feet had passed, and she'd decided to stop. Yet, it'd been a long time since she was home. Nori thought she should be more upset than she was, she'd missed so much, but honestly, she'd had to leave. She'd held off wandering for as long as she could, but the pull was too strong.

 

Little excursions to neighboring cities hadn’t been enough to stop the urge to travel. She'd needed a longer trip, time to really stretch her boundaries and see all that she could. In twelve years, Nori had been all over Middle Earth. She knew what Harad was like in the dead heat of summer; when to visit the Shire to get the freshest of their wares, some of the best food she'd ever had. She knew what the landscapes of Rohan were like. She'd paused to pay homage at the gates of Khazad Dum, where her kin had laid down their lives.

 

She'd walked through the White City of Gondor, and seen the peoples of all parts of the world. She had not spent long in the Red Moutains, called Orocarni, feeling a little out of place at seeing the unique customs of the dwarrow clans there.

 

And now she came home. Nori felt satisfied, like an itch had finally been scratched.

 

She'd missed Ori's coming of age. Her little sibling was now a dwarrow in their own right, 73 years old and already with a position under Balin as a scribe of Ered Luin. Nori hadn't missed the day entirely, she'd sent a gift before the date, a beautiful journal and expensive colored inks. Bought, not stolen, as she'd written in the note. Nori hoped that the gift had made there on time, and undamaged.

 

The pack on her back was tugging her down and she wanted to drop it and leave it. But there's more gifts in there, apologies for her long absence. They won't fix the gaping holes, but maybe they can stem the growth.

 

She had to admit, she was scared to come home. Twelve years with barely a word to either of her siblings, Nori knew Dori would likely skin her when she got there. Ori had written her, of course, whenever she'd bothered to tell them where she was. But Dori had never even sent along a message and Nori knew he was mad at her.

 

Even more so than scared, she was anxious to be home. Besides Ori's coming of age, so much had changed as she had passed through. The Fell Winter, as some called it, had been not two years ago, and Nori had not heard from her siblings in that time. She'd been horrified to pass through the Shire and see damage done to homes, from the wolves and the cold, cold almost bad enough to bring orcs down from the mountains. Nori found herself suddenly sure that someone she cared about had been injured or killed in the terrible cold and attacks.

 

Hurrying to Ered Luin, she'd learned that wolves had not gone this far past the forests, but orcs had. Her kin had held the borders, even freezing and living off of small rations as they were. The orcs were more starved, and more desperate. It was the fighting in Ered Luin and the Rangers of the North that had kept the orcs away from the Shire, thankfully. Nori might worry about her family and friends but the hobbits surely would have been slaughtered in an orc raid.

 

Somehow she wasn't surprised to find herself standing in front of the door to her home, feet having brought her there without asking her brain, or to find that the door was open before she had even stopped moving. And then there were arms around her middle and she knew there would be lectures and nagging later, but right then it felt so good to be home.

 

\- - -

 

Nori had known Gyer would want to meet with her. He, at least, would be more forgiving than Dori about her wanderings. The next morning, she left a message for Gyer at his one of usual hideouts and went to see the girls.

 

Ori had already got her all caught up on what had been happening with them and their friends, the royals. Constantly getting in trouble seemed to be the only state Fíli and Kíli could manage, and Ori always got dragged into it. But the others knew that Ori typically was innocent and let them go with little reparations. When Dori turned his back, Ori whispered to her about how their friends had been teaching them some fighting. Nori promised a new dagger, for Ori to use for themself. They had squealed over Nori's other gifts, fancy new quills dyed in bright colors.

 

Dori had spent the entire evening giving Nori the cold shoulder, once he'd stopped crushing her ribs, that was. It seemed he was too angry to properly lecture her, and didn't want to ruin the mood for Ori, who was glad to have their sister back.

 

His angry scowl only grew when Nori slipped out of the house in the morning to talk to everyone else she'd left behind.

 

Nori went to Sisda's place first. The only sign that Sisda was surprised to see her was the slight raise of her eyebrows as she let Nori into her room.

 

“You haven't been around lately,” she said, both accusing and neutral at once.

 

Nori shrugged, “I needed to stretch my legs a bit. You still making your own clothes?”

 

Sisda blinked at the question, before narrowing her dark eyes in suspicion. “Yes, why?”

 

Nori reached into the bag she'd brought with her, tossing Sisda a bolt of darkly colored cloth. Sisda ran her hands over it, fascinated. “What is this made of?” she asked, lifting the fabric up to the light. “It's very thick and heavy.”

 

“Alpaca fur.”

 

“Alpaca?” Sisda shot her a disbelieving look. “What is that?”

 

Nori thought over how to explain the long-necked, shaggy creatures, that no one here would have ever seen. “It's like a big goat.”

 

“Strange,” Sisda said, but her hands had returned to smoothing over the fabric thoughtfully. “This would make a good winter tunic,” she mused under her breath.

 

Nori waited for her to look up once again. “Where are the other two idiots?”

 

Sisda sighed long and slow. “Off arguing again, most likely.”

 

“Arguing? Those two? They've been attached at the hip since they met. What happened?”

 

“Liha got a position working in the cafeteria kitchens.”

 

Nori's eyebrow shot up. “Yeah? She like it?”

 

Sisda nodded. “She likes the work and the people who work with her. But Uloin's mad because she relies on Liha to complete a job.”

 

“How long has this been going on?”

 

“Two years? It started off a while ago, and now I think they're just dragging it out for ridiculous reasons.”

 

“They still living together?”

 

“Yeah. And Liha's still making sure Uloin eats. They just won't stop arguing about it, although they've already gone through all the reasons.”

 

“So all they need is a reason to stop fighting.”

 

“Basically. But they're being stubborn about it.”

 

Nori considered this dilemma for a moment. “Let's go talk to them, shall we?”

 

When they reached the door to Liha and Uloin's place, they heard the yelling echoing done the corridor. Liha burst out, green eyes flashing, ready to storm away. She paused for a second upon seeing Nori, anger fading, but a shout from Uloin sparked it up again and she strode away in a fit.

 

Nori and Sisda shared a glance before Nori nodded for Sisda to follow after, after handing her a package for Liha. She turned to the door instead, walking in. Uloin looked up, ready to yell again, but stopped short when she saw Nori.

 

“Oh,” she said listlessly. “You. You left.”

 

Nori thought maybe she understood the real problem here. She crossed the room, and dropped down to sit on the bed next to Uloin. Uloin, after greeting her, had pressed her face into her knees and was studiously ignoring her.

 

Nori did not know what she could do to get Uloin to either open up, or to realize that Liha would never leave her and so end the argument. She could tell didn't want to talk right now.

 

Sighing, she decided there was only really one thing she could say. Nori began to unbraid her hair, still in it's traveling braids. Not completely, just enough to rework one of them. Uloin couldn't see what she was doing, but felt her movements and glanced over after a moment. She blinked at seeing one of Nori's braids mostly undone, the length of her hair a surprise in and of itself. Nori's usual styles were created to hide the amount of hair she had, but now, half undone, Uloin could see how it fell to her waist.

 

Nori gave her a quick smile as she finished up her braids. Uloin looked her over, and Nori saw her eyes widen when she noticed the braid Nori had changed. “Why?” she asked quietly, meeting Nori's eyes again.

 

Nori's smile turned bitter, and she leaned back on her hands. “The three of you are braver than me.”

 

“That's not true.”

 

Nori gestured to the braid in her hair, the braid every dwarrowdam wore. “Isn't it?”

 

“Nali...”

 

“Nori. It's Nori, daughter of Zhori.”

 

Uloin blinked in surprise, her mouth gaping as she sat up to better meet Nori's eye. But Nori avoid her stare.

 

“My mother was the loveliest dwarrowdam in all of Erebor. The Jewel of Erebor, some called her. Nearly every dwarrow in the mountain wanted to court her. She turned them all down, wasn't interested in any of them. After the dragon, there were sometimes dwarrows who didn't take no for an answer.”

 

“Did they...?”

 

“Amad was always stronger than any of them,” Nori replied to Uloin's unspoken question, a vicious smirk on her face. Face falling once again she touched the braid in her with gentle fingers, “But she told us stories, later, when we were older.”

 

Uloin leaned over to press her shoulder into Nori's. Nori didn't lean into the touch, but neither did she lean away.

 

“I lost my mother when I was close to your age,” she continued. “A little younger.” Uloin froze now, stiffening against her. “But I was lucky. My older brother, he loves me and my sibling more than anything. He might be irritating, but he's always there for us.” Her voice got quieter, and now she did lean into Uloin's shoulder. “I know you had a hard time of it. And I wish I could have done something for you.”

 

“You did,” Uloin said, so low Nori could barely hear it.

 

Nori sighed. “Yea, took me long enough.”

 

“You didn't know me, when it happened.”

 

“No. And I'm sorry I didn't.”

 

Uloin sat up at this, giving Nori the full force of her big, wide eyes. “But now I do know you! And everyone else!”

 

Nori nodded, holding eye contact. “Yes, you've made yourself a nice little family, haven't you?”

 

Uloin started to nod furiously, then froze and looked guiltily around at the empty spaces where Liha and Sisda should have been. Nori caught a hand under her chin and caught her gaze once again. “Families fight,” she said. “You should hear me and my brother go at it sometime. But he'd never leave me, no matter what I did wrong. True families, related by blood or not, don't abandon one another.”

 

Uloin made a choking sound, eyes wet. “But Liha, she's leaving me! Leaving us!”

 

Nori raised an eyebrow. “Is she?”

 

“Yes!”

 

“Then where are we?”

 

“What?” Uloin asked, confusion creeping into her voice.

 

“Where are we?” Nori repeated.

 

“Our home?” Uloin replied, still lost.

 

“Who's home?”

 

“Mine and Liha's. You know that,” Uloin answered accusingly.

 

Nori nodded, “Exactly my point.”

 

“What point?!”

 

“Liha hasn't left you.” Uloin opened her mouth to say something else but Nori cut her off ruthlessly. “She still lives with you, even though it's been years and there's always places down in the mining district where she could hole up. She comes here, makes sure you're eating, doesn't she? She visits, even though her days are busy and you're fighting?”

 

Uloin blinked and Nori saw the thought begin to sink in. “Liha isn't leaving you,” she repeated. Uloin opened her mouth, and closed it again before looking down at her fingers.

 

“Oh,” she said, sounding lost. Nori touched her shoulder gently and stood up to go, letting Uloin have time to herself to think about what had been said.

 

“Nori,” Uloin called, and Nori glanced over at her. Shier than she'd ever heard Uloin before, the younger thief said, “I consider you to be part of my family too.”

 

Nori froze, and Uloin could see her muscles tightening under her tunic. She left without another word, but Uloin knew her words had had an effect. She uncurled herself from her position on the bed.

 

Stretching out, she noticed something on the bedspread where Nori had been sitting. She picked up a small box, and knew that Nori must have left it for her as her name was written in neat script on the top.

 

Opening it, she gasped at the beauty within. For moment, she thought the headband inside must have been made with jewels and gold, it shone so. But, no, it was wood and stone beads, polished to gleaming and so lovely she was afraid to touch it, lest she dirty them. The colorful beads would stand out sharply against her black hair and she itched to put the headband on. Looking up, she was disappointed that Nori had not lingered, wishing she could thank her, for everything.

 

\- - -

 

Sitting in the back of some discreet bar, Nori kept her hood up as waited for Gyer. She had not had time to redo her braids after leaving Uloin. Gyer might know now who she was, but she was not willing to go around advertising it while alone.

 

She had meant this conservation to be a quick catch up, a time to see Gyer again after the years without him. Then he had requested they go someplace where they were strangers to everyone there. Now, he showed up with that look on his face, the one that told her there was trouble in the air.

 

“Why are we here?”

 

He deflected the question at first, but he came around soon and told her about his worries. She acted unconcerned, but she understood the problem. If someone was trying to take down Durek, things could go wrong for them. When he started asking her to do something about it, she narrowed her eyes at him. She'd never told him about working with Dwalin, how exactly did he think she could help?

 

But the look in his eyes reminded her that despite his age and easy-going attitude, Gyer was intelligent and observant. He'd figured out that she had important contacts somewhere, and was pushing her as best he could to use them. She couldn't tell him that Dwalin would likely rather kill her at this point than work with her.

 

But Nori also couldn’t just ignore the problem. She, and everyone even slightly involved with Durek, would become targets. Chaos would reign. If anything, she should tell Dwalin about the plot just so that no one outside of the underground would get hurt.

 

And Gyer had made a good point, for all that she had blown it off when he'd said it. She didn't want to have to leave, not right now, when she'd just gotten back. Nori had yet to talk to Liha and Bofur. There was too much left to do to skip out of town so soon.

 

With that thought embedded in her mind, Nori slipped out of the bar. Still rather engrossed in her own decisions about what to do, she wandered down the streets. Only to find herself in front of the only place she had told herself she would not go to, not today.

 

There was no light in the window of Bofur's room. She almost wished there was. But she had no way to know if Bo was even in town at the moment. Nori wanted to talk to Bofur. She hadn't seen her friend in the past twelve years, and it hurt more than it should to be separated.

 

Cursing herself, Nori tried to forget what she'd thought during her journey. Alone, with little distractions on the long road, she'd had too much time to think about her relationship with Bofur. Or her lack of, she supposed. Now she realized that maybe she did want one, no matter that she had never wanted one before. But neither was she willing to give up the friendship she had cultivated.

 

Standing here and pining wouldn't help her figure out what to do, that was for certain. She spun around and made for home. Trying to get her mind on other topics, she planned how to get a chat with Dwalin without getting beaten up. Her mind kept swinging back to Bofur, and her smile, and her ridiculous hat, and she hurried faster until she was running, trying to escape her own feelings.

 


	17. Cowardice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *looks at word count* *wheezes in true pain* how?
> 
> If everything works out right *crosses fingers*, there should only be one chapter left. Then I want to write an epilogue. Then a version from Bofur's POV because we need more Ur family background fics. 
> 
> Um, violence and mentioned death in the 6th (last) section. Also there's a Fili & Kili interlude in the middle, sorry. Also I've decided Fili is bigender, just so you all know. Plz let me know if anything seems weird in this chapter, I was having problems getting it written so I kinda gave up on it being perfect. EDIT: I forgot to warn you guys, Dwalin has a part in this and refers to Nori using he/him pronouns (and Nali) bc that's how she has presented herself to them.
> 
> Lastly, Idk if everyone knows what I'm talking about, but I've decided to incorporate the dwarves have gender and bearer/sire hc into this. Basically, for dwarves, gender and whether you bear/sire children are different, if related, things. So they'll present as whatever gender they want, but some of them can carry kids and some can sire. It doesn't really effect this story much, I just added some (minimal) discussion of it in the earlier chapters. All you need to know is that Nori, Uloin, Dis and Zhori are all bearers but my hc of some bearing dwarrows being more fertile than others still stands. (although only mothers have boobs, bc I think that makes the most sense) I'm not going to make this hc a big thing in this, because I think dwarves would consider that sort of thing very private and not to be shared with just anyone. So yeah if anyone has questions, just ask.

Dwalin crossed their arms, leaning against the wall of the guard building. The sky was dark, the sun had been down for a hour now. Nali, that bane of a thief, had finally returned to Ered Luin. Dwalin wondered if they should even bother to give the thief a chance to talk. Nali had cut out on them, just after Dwalin had asked him no to.

 

Maybe they could take his head for that. His ridiculous braids at the very least. He owed them that for leaving with no word besides one short note.

 

When Dwalin felt the tiniest shift in the air behind them, they stiffened and waited for Nali to reveal himself. It didn't take long.

 

“What's it gonna take to convince you not to beat me?”

 

“More than you have,” Dwalin growled, spinning around to face the thief. “You left, thief. Pretty sure that negates my promise not to punch your teeth in.”

 

“I know,” Nali said, hands raised in supplication. “I know I messed up. But I got something to tell you, and it's important.”

 

Dwalin reluctantly backed down. “What?”

 

Nali licked their lips, glancing around as though someone would pop up to overhear. “Some idiots are planning to try to take down the boss. Could get messy.”

 

“And?”

 

Nali rolled his eyes at them, “This is thieves and crooks we're talking about. You think they're going to leave civilians out of this? If this shit gets big, everyone's going to be dragged into it too.”

 

“The fuck are I am supposed to do then?”

 

“You think you can target a few people for us?”

 

“Depends on who they are.”

 

Nali grinned, a vicious baring of his teeth. “No one you'll get in trouble for busting.”

 

Dwalin looked at him steadily until he continued. “Most have at least murder under their belt. Lots of theft and assault. Worse shit too.”

 

Dwalin sighed, rubbing their head, realizing they were stuck helping Nali now. “I'll need evidence to bust them for anything.”

 

Nali reached into his coat and pulled out an envelope. “Check that.”

 

Dwalin turned it over, then tucked it out of sight. “This doesn't get you out of anything.”

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Nali replied dismissively. “When this is all over, I'll let you take a couple swings.” He turned as he said this, stepping away and leaving the alley.

 

Dwalin headed back to their desk inside the building and pulled out the envelope. As they looked through it, they felt their eyebrows raise unconsciously at the amount of dirt Nali had managed to dig up. It was more than enough to hang all of them without much of a trial. They wondered if they should worry where Nali had got it.

 

They made sure to lock the papers in the most secure drawer in their desk before leaving for the night. When they were leaving, they realized they'd never asked Nali where he'd been, or why.

 

\- - -

 

Nori let out a loud huff as arms wrapped unexpectedly around her middle. She went for her knives, automatically defending herself, but then she recognized the blond braids under her nose.

 

“Liha, what.”

 

Nori swore she could almost feel Liha roll her eyes against her tunic. “You were gone! I missed you!”

 

Nori considered this for a moment, then extracted herself from Liha's grasp, forcing her away. Liha did roll her eyes at this, pulling a face. “You gave me a present.”

 

“I gave everyone a present,” Nori replied, feinting thickness.

 

Liha would have pouted, had Uloin not done it for her. Nori looked them both up and down, then raised an eyebrow at the both of them. “Done arguing are we?” she asked, watching them shift together to stand right by each other as they would have before she'd left.

 

They glanced at each other, then shrugged. Nori could see that the tension was not completely gone, but they looked rather comfortable with each other for people who had been fighting not a week ago. Nori wondered how long it would take before they were hanging off one another again.

 

Nori couldn't help but smirk at this, watching as they huffed at her reaction. Uloin broke the stillness by reaching to drag her into a hug. Nori immediately tried to squirm away once again, but Uloin manged to get a good grip on her for a moment. “Thank you for everything,” she whispered into Nori's ear, voice bursting with emotion.

 

Sisda, who did nothing to stop any of this, grinned from behind her hands, brown eyes twinkling for once. Nori gave her an irritated look, and she only smiled wider. When Uloin finally let go, Nori readjusted her coat pointedly.

 

“I did come here for a reason,” Nori said. The three younger dwarrowdams looked at her expectantly. “What do I have to do to keep all of you way from any other thieves for a few weeks?”

 

Sisda immediately looked suspicious, “Why?”

 

Nori sighed, feeling the headache from the oncoming bout of questioning. “Someone is planning something rather stupid that will end badly.”

 

“What are they planning?” Liha pressed.

 

“Who is?” Uloin added.

 

“To try to take out Durek. And we're not sure who exactly, but they're not nice people.”

 

“Oh,” Liha said, wincing, “That is going to end terribly.”

 

Nori nodded. “I need you all to stay out of it. Whoever is planning this isn't going to stop at getting rid of just Durek.”

 

Uloin grinned triumphantly. “Aw, Nori, you do care about us,” she cried, launching herself at Nori once again, who sidestepped her advance.

 

“Nori?” Liha said, inquiring expression on her face.

 

Uloin winced and glanced apologetically at Nori. Nori sighed and waved her hand, resisting the temptation to drag her hand down her face. “Yes, Nori. Daughter of Zhori.”

 

Liha scrunched up her face, looking offended. “Uloin knew? Why didn't you tell us?”

 

“I get the feeling Uloin only found out recently,” Sisda said dryly, eyes flicking between Nori and Uloin.

 

“I told her to get her to stop being an idiot and make up with you,” Nori said, speaking to Liha. She raised an eyebrow, daring Liha to complain.

 

Liha huffed a little but ceased. She didn't give up on hearing Nori's story herself, whining “Come on, Nori, you told Uloin.”

 

“No.”

 

“Please?”

 

“ _No_.”

 

“Fine, I'll just ask Uloin anyway.”

 

“Don't drag me into this!” Uloin said, looking panicked as she glanced between the two of them.

 

Nori sighed, and gave into the temptation to press her face into her palm. "I don't care if you tell at this point. Just stay out of trouble for a few weeks, okay?"

 

Sisda nodded, "We'll manage."

 

\- - -

 

“I don't know what you expect me to say,” Ori said, blinking at the paper Fíli had shoved in their face. “I can't even read it when you hold it like that.”

 

Fíli huffed, and dropped the paper into Ori's lap instead. “What do you think?” Kíli stood next to him, bouncing on their heels excitedly.

 

Ori skimmed over the paper, which was apparently a list of all the things Fíli would need, or wanted, for his 60th birthday party. “Where are you expecting to get some of this?” they asked. There was no way Fíli could get an oliphaunt for his party, even if he was the prince.

 

He waved a hand vaguely, “I'm not expecting to get all of it. It's just an idea list.”

 

Kíli piped in, “And we can do whatever we want!”

 

Ori blinked at them in confusion. “I doubt that...” they said, trailing off.

 

“Kíli doesn't mean it like that,” Fíli explained. “Since I'm nearing my coming of age, Amad decided I get more responsibilities and that includes planning my own party this year.”

 

Kíli nodded emphatically. “So we can do whatever we want!”

 

Fíli rolled his eyes. “Sure, Kee.”

 

“Sounds like a lot of work,” Ori said, thinking about how much trouble Dori went through for their own, smaller parties.

 

“It is,” Fee replied and Ori felt like there was something he wasn't saying. Glancing back up again, they saw both the younger dwarrows giving them puppy eyes. Ori narrowed theirs.

 

“No, Fee. I'm not going to plan your party for you.”

 

Fíli sighed, and flopped down into the bench next to them. “I had to try.”

 

“You're so much better at this kind of thing though!” Kíli added, eyes still wide and pleading.

 

Ori shrugged their attempt off once again. “So learn how to do it better.” Kíli, giving in, dropped down on Ori's other side, draping their arm across Ori's shoulders. Fíli did the same thing, so that both of them were leaning on Ori.

 

Swatting at them absently, Ori went back to reading over the list.

 

“Twenty barrels of ale, really Fíli?”

 

\- - -

 

Fíli leaned back against the wall of the armory. Kíli tested the string on their new bow, face more concentrated then it ever was in lessons with Balin. Once they'd checked it, Fíli gestured towards the door, waiting until they nodded to him before he left.

 

They wandered to the training grounds, mostly empty as it was nearing dinnertime. But Amad was busy in the courts today, filling in for Thorin for some boring meeting while their uncle worked at the forges. As much as they loved their uncle, they would happily avoid his cooking, and so they'd told him not to worry about feeding them. Knowing that, Thorin would work late into the night.

 

Kíli was surprisingly a decent cook, if you could get them to stand still long enough to prepare something. Fíli was good at that part of it. So was archery. For now, they trained, not quite feeling like heading back inside just yet. Kíli was only truly still when they practiced their archery, as they were now.

 

Fíli couldn't help but feel a swell of pride for his sibling, who had improved so much since they had picked up a bow the first time. Not wanting to just stand there and watch Kíli, he moved to find a target of his own, and practiced with his throwing axes.

 

His aim was worse than Kíli's, he would readily admit that. But he could hit the target every time, and that was good enough for a secondary weapon.

 

They trained until the sun was starting to sink into the horizon, then Fíli tapped on Kíli's shoulder. He waited for his sibling to wake up from their daze to drag them back inside. “What are we making for dinner?” he called as they got to their house.

 

Kíli hummed, and moved to investigate their meager pantry. “Stew,” they said, “It's easy and quick, and Amad told me this meat's about to go bad anyway.”

 

Fíli nodded, and went to get out the supplies they'd need. Kíli sung some tavern song as they scurried around the kitchen and Fíli couldn't help but join in on the chorus. Kíli's voice cracked on the last note, and Fíli laughed at them until they threw a spoon at his head.

 

When he straightened again, Kíli's face was still set into a scowl, and they waved a another spoon threateningly. Fíli raised his hands in supplication, smirking at the look he was being given. “You look like Uncle.”

 

“What?” Kíli said, scrunching up their nose. “No I don't.”

 

“When you make that face you do,” Fíli laughed, mimicking their former expression.

 

Kíli immediately pulled their face into a scowl once again, “I'm a majestic king. I like to sit on my own and brood instead of having fun.”

 

Fíli cracked up, wheezing and bending double. “Don't let him catch you doing that,” he gasped, and Kíli nodded, but their was mischief in their eyes.

 

“If only I could fake his voice,” Kíli said speculatively.

 

“Oh, Mahal, Kee don't try. It'd be endless training for weeks if he hears.”

 

“He doesn't have to hear,” Kíli said, grinning. “Besides, Amad would love it.”

 

“She would, but Kee...”

 

“Yeah, yeah. Can I try doing it for Ori?” Kíli wheedled.

 

Fíli snickered, “Definitely.”

 

\- - -

 

“Oooorrriiii!”

 

Head snapping up at the cry, Ori wasn't surprised to see Kíli barreling down the hall towards them. Grabbing their hand, the dark haired dwarrow pulled them up and started pulling them down the hallway. “Wehavesomethingtoshowyou!”

 

Ori carefully untangled the sentence in their brain. “Yes?” they said, wondering what was so important.

 

Kíli dragged Ori to their home, excitement pouring off of him in waves. “I have to take you here because we're not allowed to wander around with it but you have to see! It's so pretty!” Leading Ori to Fíli's room, he barged in, tugging Ori along, who was glad to see their friend was decent for company.

 

“Ori!” Fíli greeted and when she turned, Ori noticed the net weaved into her hair. It blended into her golden hair but it's sheen caught the light and sent sparkles through the jewels that sat in her hair like stars in the sky.

 

“Oh,” Ori said as Fíli smiled shyly and looked back at herself in the mirror.

 

Kíli burst out, unable to keep silent, “Amad gave it to her. It used to belong to our grandmother!”

 

“It's so pretty,” Ori said. memorized. Their fingers itched to sketch the hairstyle, and they wished they had their journal with them.

 

Fíli's smile only grew. “I don't know how Amad managed to keep a hold of it. But she said I can have it when I come of age.”

 

“Certainly looks better in her hair than it ever did in mine,” came a voice from the doorway. All three spun around to face Dís, who was leaning on frame watching Fíli. Stepping into the room, she came forward to catch Fíli's face in her hands. “You look lovelier than the Arkenstone itself.” She pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, and Ori felt like they were intruding, shuffling their feet awkwardly.

 

But Dís soon dropped her hands, and moved away from her eldest. She nodded to Ori, dark hair braided with no more than simple silver beads. “Tell your brother to some over for tea soon, would you?”

 

Ori nodded, tongue heavy and the princess swept out of the room once again.

 

\- - -

 

They waited to attack until Durek had kicked almost everyone out of the bar.

 

The boss wasn't stupid. He knew the ones who were hoping to benefit from a power vacuum weren't just going to give up, even with a little persuasion from the guards. No, Durek decided to clear out the bar for a few nights, only asking a few to stay and giving the ones plotting an obvious target. Nori didn't think she really wanted to be there, but upsetting Durek by not showing seemed like a worse fate.

 

Gyer was there too. Apparently Durek quite liked the quite older dwarrow, for all that he wasn't exactly loyal to hime. She tucked herself into the bar next to him, avoiding the dangerous looking dwarrows of Durek's head circle. Durek circled around, pacing the room, but refusing to go searching out the potters themselves.

 

“Can't make it easier for them, can we?” he laughed, eyes glinting in the firelight. “Let's make 'em worry.”

 

Nori almost shuddered at the implications. Durek was just going to wait for them. And every day he did nothing, the ones plotting would grow more worried and reckless, sure he was going to exact retribution. They'd be desperate by the time they came to attack. Durek knew what he was doing. He'd cultivated an image of himself as this powerful overlord, an authority figure only the stupidest and most cunning would try to betray.

 

Nori wondered if she'd ever have the guts to stand up to him. The very idea worried her. She got the feeling Durek knew more about her than he would ever let on, another part of his carefully crafted image. She'd didn't want to risk his wrath against her family. Or her friends.

 

She was a coward. Not that Nori'd ever tried to deny that. What other reason was there for her avoiding Bofur? She'd found out the other dwarrowdam was back in town a week ago. But she'd done nothing about it.

 

Gyer cut off her brooding with a nod to the back table. She followed his gaze and saw what he was looking at. Poor Taor seemed to be on the receiving end of quite a few glares. The dwarrow seemed to be pretending not to notice the looks but the tension in their shoulders gave them away. Islu, the assassin who followed Durek for reasons unknown, was twirling one of their knives a little too causally.

 

Durek ignored their attempts at intimidation of his newest favorite, facing the doorway of the bar now.

 

It was then that the bar erupted into chaos. Some dwarrows appeared from the back entrance, which should have been locked and guarded. Nori immediately found herself fending off a dwarrow who was of the same kind of build as she, light and quick. They ducked around each other, both trying to land hits that the other avoided with ease.

 

Nori growled, irritated at this unexpected development. She had fought with others besides guards, more than she would ever admit to in front of Dori, but all of them had been larger than here, and slower. She wasn't quite sure what to do with this opponent.

 

Eventually, she tried to sidestep one of their swipes, only to have them drop to their hands and kick a foot out under her. She fell hard, and they scrambled on top of her, pressing her into the ground. She would have struggled against their hold, but looked up and realized that all the other fighting had stopped.

 

Nori saw what had caused the abrupt pause. Sigi, the mercenary who had worked under Durek for as long as anyone could remember, had her axe pressed to his throat. He accepted the threat without surprise, watching her with steady eyes.

 

No one was paying much attention to their weapons anymore. Tension was high as they watched the silent conservation pass in front of them. Durek's group knew if Sigi did the deed, she'd would be the new underground boss, and everyone in this room would die. Sigi's group was waiting for her to do it.

 

Nori quickly decided all this waiting was for idiots. She preyed on her opponent’s distraction, rolling them both over and throwing the knife from her boot in one smooth movement. The knife hit its target, burying hilt deep into Sigi's shoulder. She groaned, loosening her grip on her axe, and Durek struck.

 

Nori found herself unceremoniously pushed over, her opponent doing their best to make a break for it before someone took their head off too. She wasn't sure if they got away or not. The fighting restarted, the betrayers desperate to get away before the tides turned further against them.

 

Not having time to think about what she was doing, Nori slunk through the crowds, digging her daggers into any exposed area she could find. The only time she aimed to kill was when Gyer was in danger. A dwarrow had snuck up behind him as he fought, and would have stabbed him in the back had she not taken her dagger to their throat first. Gyer nodded his thanks, and she attempted to ignore the sick feeling in her stomach.

 

(There was blood on the floor – she tried not to look, thinking about other times she'd seen blood spread in that way.) She swallowed dryly, twisting feeling in her gut growing. When it was all over, Durek gave a vicious grin to what was left of his group.

 

“Well,” he said, “I did not quite expect that.” He kicked Sigi's body absently, and Nori felt like she would rather be leagues away from him right then. Then Durek looked up and smiled at her, “I knew there was a reason I like you, little thief!” he laughed. “Sure you don't want to join me? Another spot has just opened up.”

 

Nori blinked, tired and wanting to go home. “My answer hasn't changed, Durek.”

 

“What a shame,” he said, shaking his head, locks moving with the gesture. Turning away, he gave out orders to the rest of them, demanding this dwarrow help with clean up, and another to check for survivors.

 

Nori wondered if the unwinding feeling in her gut was relief or nausea.

 


	18. Endings (are just beginnings)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit guys, last chapter!

Nori reigned in her wandering feet for a while. Oh, she still indulged in a trip or two, but she managed to keep her travels under lockdown, restraining herself to a smaller area. Her siblings always seemed to be on edge, waiting for her to disappear again and she wondered if they'd find it in themselves to relax around her.

 

Dwalin appeared to have decided not to care about what she did, so long as she gave them something every once in a while. She was happy to sell out some of her fellow crooks to them, it gave her an excuse not to beat them up herself.

 

Durek might have known about her work to take out his most corrupt followers. If he did, he never said anything, or made to stop her. In truth, he had only grown fonder of her since she saved his life. Not that she'd been thinking about it like that when she knifed Sigi. She'd mostly just been trying not to get killed herself.

 

The intimidating dwarrow had made it his business to send her out on all sorts of assignments for him after that. Nori accepted them reluctantly, happy to take his money, but disliking her growing acquaintanceship with him. She'd rather get herself, and the girls, away from him and his sketchy morals and deals.

 

Life passed both slowly and quickly, it seemed. A year would go by in a flash, but a week might seem to take longer than she'd ever thought possible. Nori, as she was making an attempt to stay at home for once, found herself being dragged into Dori and Ori's friendship with the royals. It wouldn't have been a problem, if it didn't make it more likely Dwalin would run into her and find out who she was. She'd rather keep her privacy, and prevent them from being unable to stick their nose in her business.

 

Oftentimes, she had to duck around in corner to avoid the guard, who was usually there with the King. At least no one else seemed to have made the connection between her and Dwalin's least favorite thief, although apparently Dwalin loved to complain about her. Nori felt rather proud of that.

 

She found herself busy, between her 'work', catching up with everyone, doing jobs for Durek, and spying for Dwalin. Nori did her best to keep it all balanced, but she couldn't help but wonder if it would all fall apart. She wanted to keep every part of her world separate and contained but she knew that was a hopeless quest. Eventually something would happen to mess up her balance and it would all fall apart.

 

\- - -

 

The cafeteria Liha worked at had been created to provide for the miners that worked in the city. Chef Vonr, having grown up in the mining district themself, had started up the place to give the workers, who typically didn't have the money or the time to make good meals fro themselves, a place to get good, cheap food. They didn't charge much, a few coins could buy a meal and a drink, a few more could buy more ale and dessert.

 

Liha wasn't sure how Vonr managed to keep the place running, considering the amount of food they made and how cheap a meal was. However they did it, the cooks always had their work cut for them. They would try to be as economical as possible, while still keeping a decent quality in their food.

 

Since she and Uloin had begun to make up, the younger dwarrowdam showed up for lunch, and Liha always made sure to schedule her own breaks to coincide with her arrival. After another months of tension, Uloin finally began to relax around her again, and by the end of that next month, their relationship was almost the same as it had been.

 

The other cooks laughed at her, when she always ran off as soon as Uloin came into the cafeteria. They pretended they didn't notice that Liha would slip her more food than she paid for. Their chats were often hurried, Liha having to get back to work, but she felt happier than she'd been in years.

 

She finally felt confident enough to bother her fellow cooks with questions and suggestions for improvement, and they were fond enough of her not to stop her. Uloin had forgiven her for her perceived slight, and Sisda watched over the two of them like she had since Nori had brought them together. Speaking of Nori, the older dwarrowdam sometimes showed at the cafeteria, usually with a be-hatted dwarrow that one of the other cooks, Halla seemed to know. She'd give Liha a wink as she passed by, and often Liha would find a small gift tucked into her pocket at the end of the day, though she had no idea how Nori had managed to put it there.

 

As Liha was allowed to take her meals from the excess food they had at the end of the lunch and dinner rushes, when the miners got off their shifts, she saved most of her coin for Uloin. Uloin was still trying to steal, but she'd never been as good at it, not sure enough in herself to avoid looking suspicious. The more money Liha gave Uloin, the less she stole and the less likely it became that she would get caught doing so.

 

\- - -

 

Ori laughed as Kíli attempted to balance an apple on their nose, hands out to keep them from falling over as they wobbled precariously. “You're going to trip,” they said, shaking their head as the dark hair dwarrow almost stepped on a rock and fell.

 

“I got this!” Kíli insisted, still without braids even several years after their coming of age. They were planning to wait until their eightieth birthday, preferring those braids to the ones they would wear now. Ori, like Fíli, had started braiding their hair as soon as they came of age. Ori let Dori do it most the time, knowing it relaxed him to be able to help them. Fíli was proud to do it on her own, and was liable to change up her braids every day.

 

Ori reflected on the strangeness of their friendship. Most of their relationship involved Fíli and Kíli determinedly dragging them into all of their plots. Ori didn't mind though. The two royals were certainly more fun than Dori, and they wondered what they'd do without them there. Probably spend all day inside working, honestly.

 

Then Kíli did trip over the very same rock they'd avoided before, and Fíli fell over laughing. They glared as they righted themselves, but Fíli ignored their ire, teasing them until they started chasing her. The two of them ran around the square, acting like dwarrows half their age.

 

Ori rolled their eyes and did their best to tune them out.

 

\- - -

 

Nori let her cowardice win out more often than not. She would freely admit to being unsure what to do with her feelings. Even after 20 years of learning to live with them, they still felt alien to her. Trying to determine what she wanted to do was like trying to wrestle a pile of mud. It was simpler, less confusing, to just let her and Bofur's friendship continue on as it had before.

 

Bofur had been too busy lately to notice her distraction anyway. Bombur, Bo's brother, and his wife, Halla, had unexpectedly had twins. Twins were are and the whole family was overjoyed. But one child, never mind the twins plus the four they already had, was already expensive enough. Nori honestly wasn't sure how they managed to afford anything at this point.

 

The Ur family made more money than her brother (and her thieving combined) did, but they had more to spend it on too. And her family scraped through the days with little to spare.

 

Since the birth, Bofur and her cousin, Bifur, had been scrambling to bring in as much coin as possible to support their family. A miner could get a job just about anywhere if they asked nicely enough, and so Bofur had been traveling with Bifur to help him sell his toys. They sent the money back to Bombur and Bifur's husband, Cael, who ran the toyshop while they were gone.

 

Bofur hadn't been in town for more than a few months in the past ten years. Nori found that very helpful in avoiding certain topics. Whenever they did meet up, Bofur usually just wanted to get drunk and gamble a bit, and every time Nori abused the excuse not to talk to Bofur about her feelings.

 

There had been one time when she'd almost told Bofur, just a few months past.

 

It all begun to fall apart, like she'd predicted, when their king decided to plan out some idiotic quest. Nori did respect Thorin, and his sister, for their strength, but couldn't understand the point of this suicidal quest. Ori, however, was enamored with the idea, and being close to Fíli and Kíli, signed up for the journey immediately. Dori had been unable to convince them not to, and ended up joining himself to keep an eye on them.

 

\- - -

 

_Ori listened as Kíli and Fíli explained their uncle's plan. “He's going to go to the Iron Hills, to see if Cousin Dain will stand with us. If he won't, or even if he will, we're going go to Erebor!”_

 

“ _Isn't that a little dangerous?” Ori said, worried._

 

“ _Yeah but that's the interesting part,” Kíli replied, eyes wide and excited. “It'll be an adventure!”_

 

_Fíli, the voice of a more reasonable argument, added, “It's been so long without a peep from the dragon. It may as well be dead, and we can't just leave Erebor unprotected. If we can reclaim our homeland, we should!”_

 

_Ori privately thought they'd been listening to their uncle too much. But the idea of an adventure did sound terribly exciting... “Who else is going?”_

 

_Fíli winced, her braids swinging as she shrugged her shoulders. “Us, Balin, Dwalin, possibly Oin and Gloin. Amad is staying behind.”_

 

“ _That's not very many people,” Ori worried, nibbling on the end of their quill absently. They thought about what it would mean to go with their friends for a second, then continued, “Think you guys can fit a scribe in?”_

 

_Kíli grinned. “I think we can convince Uncle.”_

 

_Dori hadn't taken it well. “What! You can't go on a quest! You're barely of age -”_

 

“ _I'm older than Fíli and Kíli,” Ori mumbled._

 

“ _You don't know how to fight -”_

 

“ _And who was responsible for that?” Ori muttered rebelliously._

 

“ _I can't allow this!”_

 

_Ori glared. “You don't have to 'allow' anything! This is my choice, and I'm going on the quest with my friends! You can't make me stay.”_

 

_Dori opened his mouth, then closed it, looking lost. Then he spun around and marched towards the door. “Who's organizing this?”_

 

“ _Master Balin mainly,” Ori replied, confused at the sudden redirection. “Where are you going?”_

 

“ _If you're so determined to go, I'm coming with!”_

 

\- - -

 

Nori walked in to find Ori sitting at the table, glaring purposefully at Dori while he bustled around making dinner. She blinked. Ori was never the one who got into spats with Dori, that was always Nori. She wondered if she should be gleeful, or worried.

 

“What happened?” she asked, deciding that avoiding the issue would likely just make the two of them unbearable. Ori huffed and crossed their arms. Dori looked ready to throw his own up into the air.

 

“Dori's being overprotective,” Ori said, “And treating me like a child.”

 

Nori raised an eyebrow, “That's not new.”

 

Dori sighed, then burst out, “Ori's signed up to go on some dangerous quest without even discussing it with me first.”

 

Nori glanced at Ori for confirmation, whose blush gave it away immediately. “What kind of quest?”

 

“The King is going to try to retake Erebor,” Ori explained. “And I already promised Fíli and Kíli I'd go with.”

 

Dori growled, “It's a fool's quest, and it's going to get you killed.”

 

“You don't know that!” Ori snapped. “Nori -” they started, turning to their sister only to see the pensive look on her face.

 

Nori could already feel their disappointment but she swallowed the lump in her throat and spoke. “There's a reason I've always avoided traveling by Erebor. There may been no sightings of Smaug for years, but the land around the mountain... The men who live there don't think the dragon is gone, and I agree with them.”

 

Ori's dejected face made Nori wince, and she looked away so as not to have to meet their eyes.

 

“I'm still going,” Ori declared.

 

“Then I'm still coming with you,” Dori shot back. They both looked at Nori, expecting to her to announce a position in the whole thing, but she slipped away instead. She needed to think.

 

If she went, there would be no hiding from Dwalin anymore. But since they would likely die, what would it matter anyway? And if by some miracle they survived, well then Dwalin would have to leave her alone. If they managed it, she'd be protected. Not just from Dwalin's wrath, but Durek's too.

 

Nori knew Dori could protect Ori, he was strong enough and determined enough, but he couldn’t keep an eye on them at all times. Maybe she should go to help him. She also doubted that whatever meager group Thorin would put together would know how to get themselves out of some of the worse trouble they could get in. And if they would need a burglar to sneak in to Erebor, well... that was something she knew she could do.

 

But she was scared. Of losing her anonymity and of dying.

 

It was only when she found out that Bofur was going that her decision was sealed.

 

\- - -

 

Nori wasn't quite sure how Bofur had found out about the quest. Perhaps it had something to do with Bifur's past a guard. Either way, Bofur was now describing the plan she'd already heard about from Ori over a drink. It seemed that Bifur had signed up first, but now both Bofur and Bombur were planning to follow him.

 

“It's such a good opportunity, Nori!” she said, leaning over to grip her arm, a twinkle in her eye. “When we retake the mountain, each of us will have a share in the treasure. Can you imagine? Bombur will never have to worry about his little ones ever again! We can't just let this pass us by.”

 

Nori whispered under her breath, “If you reclaim the mountain...” and “Smaug may still be alive” but if Bofur heard she did not react. Her friend's spirits could not be dampened, and her optimism was addictive.

 

“It's been near 200 years, Nori. We'll be fine, promise.”

 

Seeing that her warnings her going nowhere, Nori gave in, drinking to Bofur's success. Her decision was made for her then. She couldn't let everyone she cared about go running off into the wild without her.

 

She proceeded to get completely shitfaced, hoping the alcohol would negate the feeling of oncoming dread as she made plans to talk to Dwalin the nest day. Bofur laughed at her attempts to get drunk, offering her drink after drink until she felt like she would not be able to stand. At some point, Bofur had also started giving her water, which Nori was sure she'd be glad of once morning came.

 

Both of them were spectacularly drunk by the time the bar closed and they were kicked out. Bofur, an arm somehow having winded its way around Nori's waist, gestured towards her place, but Nori shook her head. She should get home, and get ready to tell Ori she coming with.

 

They stood in the doorway for a little longer. Bofur seemed to be having trouble dropping her arm from Nori's waist, and as she stood there, Nori wanted to tell her. She wanted to kiss her, pull on her braids and tell Bofur how she felt, before she made the stupidest decision of her life and signed on for this damned quest.

 

She started to lean up, face already close to Bofur's. Bofur blinked at her, warm brown eyes big up this close. Then something fell in the bar with a loud clatter and audible swearing from the bartender. They sprung apart in shock, and Nori felt the chance slip away through her fingers.

 

Bofur had given her a cheerful goodbye before leaving, only a little wobbly. Nori watched her go.

 

\- - -

 

Dwalin walked into their office, only to freeze and reach for their axes when they saw a figure in the chair. Then they blinked, stepping into the room. “Nali?”

 

Nali pulled their pipe from their mouth, “'lo, guard. I heard you're planning on going on some idiotic quest.”

 

“What does it matter to you?”

 

“Got an open spot?”

 

Dwalin's eyebrows shot up. “You? You want to go?”

 

“Sure,” Nali shrugged, “Why not? I'd get paid, yeah?”

 

Snorting, they replied, “Yeah, with more money than a thief like you deserves.”

 

Nali gave them a sly look, “You telling me you don't need me?”

 

Dwalin glared, but relaxed slightly. “If you really want to go, you'll have to talk my to my brother, the King, and the King's sister.”

 

“Sounds fun,” Nali smirked. “When?”

 

Dwalin smirked back, “I can take you right now.” They reveled in watching the other dwarrow pale just a little at the thought.

 

\- - -

 

Balin heard the footstep echo down the hall before there was a knock on the office door. Turning away from Thorin, they adjusted the papers in front of them to cover up their plans in case it someone who didn't know of them. “Yes?”

 

Dwalin pushed the door open. “Oh, good. All three of you are here. Got someone for you.”

 

Dís frowned, “What, another one willing to follow my idiot brother?”

 

Thorin growled under his breath and she grinned at him, unrepentant. “Bring them in.”

 

Balin blinked at the red hair, pulled back into three thick braids, and the playful smirk. “Let me guess, Dwalin, is this the thief you complain so often about?”

 

“Unfortunately,” Dwalin grunted.

 

The newcomer opened their mouth but Dís cut them off, leaning in to get a better look at them. “You, I know you.” They started to deny it, but she raised a hand. “It is you! No wonder you've shown up.”

 

Everyone was staring at Dís in confusion but she only smiled knowing and a waved a hand for them to continue.

 

Thorin sighed in exasperation and decided to ignore his sister. “You want to join us?” he said, turning to look at the thief.

 

“Why not?” they said, shrugging.

 

“Many would say it was too dangerous to go,” Balin replied. “But from what I have heard, you might be an asset to us if you will join this company.”

 

“I'd be willing,” they said. “Why else would I let this lug bring me here.”

 

“No doubt you'd want to go,” Dís muttered. “Do the others know?”

 

“Dís, explain or stop,” Thorin said, sounding tired.

 

“Why don't we let her explain?” Dís said, eyes twinkling. “It's her story.”

 

“Her?” Dwalin said, face scrunching up.

 

“Way to blow my cover, princess,” Nori said, huffing.

 

“Oh?” Dís looked innocent, “The cover you would have lost as soon as your brother saw you at our meetings?”

 

Nori rolled her eyes but didn't dispute the point. She turned to Thorin, arms crossed defensively. “Nori, daughter of Zhori. You've somehow convinced my siblings to join your little company. I'm not about to stay here alone.”

 

Dwalin looked like someone had hit them over the head.

 

Thorin looked her up and down, "Can you promise not to mess up our quest, if I let you come?"

 

"I'm not gonna steal you supplies and run off, _your majesty_." Nori said sarcastically. "Wouldn't do my siblings much good."

 

Thorin tilted his head in acceptance of this, "If everyone else agrees to let you come, Balin can give you a contract."

 

Dwalin shrugged, "She's annoying as fuck, but I think she could be useful. Don't think I won't keep an eye on you though."

 

The last part was directed at Nori, only said, "What else would I expect from you, guard?"

 

When no one said anything against Nori's inclusion in the company, Balin gave Nori a contract to sign. She slipped out of the office later, feeling like someone had shackled an iron ball to her leg.

 

\- - -

 

Nori sat with her feet on the table, flipping a knife through her fingers.

 

“Feet down!” Dori commanded, glaring. “This isn't our house!”

 

Nori dropped her feet, giving Dori a look that made him begin to lecture her. Ori continued sketching in their journal, ignoring their siblings' bickering. It wasn't long before the room began to fill up, the members of Thorin's company filing in to talk about their plan.

 

Thorin had already left to meet the messenger from the Iron Hills, but the rest of them were waiting until he returned to set out themselves. It had been decided that they would all meet before that, so that they at least knew each others name's before they set out.

 

Nori tried not to react when Bofur walked in, but she couldn't help a slight tensing of her shoulders. She could tell when Bofur noticed her, because she felt her eyes drag over her as Bofur stopped speaking. She met her eyes for a second, and tossed her a grin. Bofur blinked, then grinned back.

 

Bofur bounded over, leaving her rather confused brother behind. “Nori!” she greeted brightly. “I didn't think you'd be here.”

 

“Well,” Nori said, gesturing to her siblings, “I had a good reason.”

 

Bofur stuck out a hand, “Hello! You must be Dori and Ori.”

 

“Yes,” Dori said, shaking her hand but sounding bemused. “I'm afraid I don't know who you could be.”

 

“Bofur, daugher of Kofur, at your service!” she said. “Nori's told me a bit about you, but I'm not surprised it wasn't the other way around.”

 

“How do you know each other?” Ori asked, brightening.

 

Nori replied for Bofur, “We meet up and have a few drinks now and then.”

 

“That answers my question too,” Bombur said quietly, coming up behind Bofur.

 

His sister beamed, and grasped his hand to pull him forward. “This is my brother, Bombur. Over there is my cousin, Bifur. Don't worry about that axe in his head, Oin's been treating him since the accident and he's mostly fine, just can't speak Westron is all.”

 

“Err, I'm glad to know he's all right,” Dori responded to the sudden barrage of information. “I am Dori, son of Zhori. You know Nori, my sister. And the youngest is Ori," he introduced them to Bombur, who nodded shyly in response.

 

“Hello,” Ori said added.

 

“Everyone sit down please,” Balin called as they entered the room. “We need to discuss our plan.”

 

Bofur smiled amiably at them and took a seat with Bombur across the table, next to her cousin.

 

\- - -

 

Preparing to leave felt a little like walking to the gallows, at least to Nori. Any chances to escape and be free of this suicidal quest had passed, leaving her with only one choose, to follow this path wherever it led. Most of the others were in high spirits, most notably the royal younglings.

 

She had told Liha, Sisda, Uloin and Gyer all the same thing. That she was going traveling, to where she hadn't said, and wouldn't be back for a while. Gyer had give her the same knowing look he always did, the one she could never be sure if it meant anything or not. The girls, thought not really girls anymore, had hugged her, even Sisda, as if they all saw the gravity of her departure.

 

Nori tried to put it out of her mind as she packed.

 

Dori had spent the entire morning they left checking over all their bags repeatedly, to make they hadn't left anything even vaguely important behind. Ori had complained that they'd end up carrying their whole house on their back if this continued, and Nori was inclined to agree. Still, they managed to get out in time to meet the others.

 

Nori got the feeling soon she'd be wishing she'd spoken up more against Dori's ferocious packing. Usually when she traveled, she took as little as she could get away with, but that wasn't an option here. She couldn't steal enough to keep the entire company fed, even if they weren't staying away from towns most of the time anyway.

 

Balin led the group, map in one hand. Dwalin followed after, always on the watch for anything to go wrong. Kíli and Fíli were right behind them, still looking excited, even though the boring nature of walking long distances had settled in. Ori trailed after them, watching their surroundings with fascination.

 

The banker, Gloin, and his sister were behind Nori and Dori, arguing about something or another yet again. Both were cousins of Thorin's, and willing enough to join him. The Ur family was at the back of the company, Bofur joking amongst the three of them.

 

The company had been split into family groups so far, but Nori suspected soon they'd all be interacting with one another. They just needed to get used to each other first.

 

She looked out across the flat land they were passing through, wondering how long it would take them to reach the Shire, with this many on foot.

 

She wondered if any of them would ever come back this way again.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry guys! I"m not done in this verse just yet. 
> 
> This was where I always planned to end this. I'm not going to rewrite the quest, because I honestly don't know what I would add. I've already started drafting up outlines for the epilogue to this, which is really more of its own oneshot. It's focus will be getting Nori/Bofur together. Unfortunately, because I like to cause myself pain and I promised myself this verse would follow canon, it will not be a everyone lives au. I will try to make it as fluffy as possible despite that. 
> 
> I also want to write an Ur family background fic in this verse, but I'll probably wait to do that. 
> 
> So yeah, I'll try to get started on the epilogue, but life might make that kinda difficult in the next month (ish).


End file.
